Types of Plastic Surgery - Research Paper Example

? Plastic Surgery: A Broad Overview Glen Comstock National College, Florence, KY Russel Banks August Plastic Surgery: A Broad Overview “According to official statistics, approximately 65,000 surgical cosmetic procedures were performed in 2008 in the UK - 50% more than in 2003, whereas in USA 1,435,444 plastic surgeries were conducted in 2007”(What Is Cosmetic Surgery? What Is Plastic Surgery?, 2009). Plastic surgery has revolutionized medical science because of its capabilities in conducting surgeries with perfection and that also without leaving any normal surgical marks on the body of the patient. It is gaining popularity, because of its abilities in changing the appearance of a person. Many people undergo severe psychological stress because of their inferiority complex about their shape. Such people can make use of plastic surgery procedures to correct their appearance. It can correct and restore most of the malfunctioning body organs. In cosmetic surgery, plastic surgery has an unquestionable place. “It can involve surgery on any portion of the anatomy, except the central nervous system” (Overview of Plastic Surgery, n. d). Many of the birth defects and, body marks, burn marks, facial problem etc can be corrected with help of plastic surgery. “Breast augmentation or enlargement, chin, cheek, or jaw reshaping, dermabrasion, eye lid lift, ear, pinning facelift, forehead lift, hair replacement/transplantation, liposuction, nose reshaping tummy tuck, spider and varicose vein treatment, breast reduction, plumping / collagen or fat injections” (Plastic surgery, 2008) etc are some of the most common procedures in which plastic surgery is adopted. This paper provides a broad overview of plastic surgery. What is plastic surgery? The term "plastic" is derived from the Greek word "plastikos" and the Latin word "plasticere" both of which means "to mould". It does not refer to the actual materials used in the course of the surgery itself. Normally, the Plastic Surgeon will make use of the patient's own tissues from another location of the body to achieve the required results Cleatus, MD, n. d) In many cases, plastic surgeons make use of the tissues of the patient from other parts of his body to reconstruct or shape the defective portions and therefore, the transplanted tissues grow normally with other tissues. Surgery marks will be considerable less in plastic surgery because of the careful planning of incisions. In plastic surgery, incisions will fall exactly in the line of natural skin folds and therefore the surgery marks will be considerably less than normal surgeries. General anesthesia, local anesthesia and topical anesthesia are used for performing plastic surgeries based on the nature or complexity of the procedure. Plastic surgeries normally take two or more hours based on the complexity of the surgery. As in the case of other surgeries, plastic surgery also involves risks such as infection, bleeding, scarring, and anesthesia reactions. Types of plastic surgery Based on the nature of surgery performed, plastic surgery can be classified into tow broad categories; reconstructive plastic surgery and cosmetic or aesthetic plastic surgery. “In general, reconstructive surgery is performed on abnormal structures of the body that may be caused by the following: trauma, infection, developmental abnormalities, congenital (present at birth) anomalies, disease, tumors” (Overview of Plastic Surgery, n. d). Reconstructive plastic surgery is normally performed to improve the form and function of some particular defective body organs. It is normally performed to correct some kind of birth defects such as cleft lip or cleft palate etc and also to reconstruct some of the body features destroyed by accidents and illnesses. For example, American plastic surgeons recently conducted a famous plastic surgery to reconstruct the nose of an Afghan teenage girl who lost her nose because of her husband’s brutalities. The following photographs reveal the shape of her nose before and after the plastic surgery. (Bates, 2010) Cosmetic surgery on the other hand is performed to change the appearance of a person. It is quite possible that even beautiful persons may have some of their visible body parts out of shape. Such people are depending cosmetic plastic surgery for correcting their appearance problems. For example, many people may have wrinkles and scars in their face. Such things can be easily corrected through cosmetic plastic surgery. Varicose vein problems and breast augmentation are some of the common cosmetic plastic surgeries performed at present. Most of the film personalities and other celebrities usually perform cosmetic plastic surgeries to correct their appearance problems. Former Miss Universe winner, Sushmita Sen of India, is now the latest addition to the growing list of beauty queens who subjected parts of their bodies under the knife. According to the report of India Times, the 1994 Miss Universe was one of the Bollywood personalities who admitted publicly that she had gone for Silicon implants to enhance her breasts (Sushmita Sen Admits Having Breast Implants, 2009) Apart from Sushmita Sen, many other Bollywood and Hollywood film celebrities undergone aesthetic plastic surgery many times to improve their appearance. Advantages of plastic surgery As mentioned earlier, the major advantage of plastic surgery is its ability to enhance the appearance or beauty of a person. Birth defects and accidental problems can be corrected with the help of plastic surgery. Appearance is a major factor which motivates or demotivates a person from actively participating in social activities. People with ugly feeling about their looks will naturally stay away from social interactions and they will undergo severe mental stress. For example, a person who is suffering from hair loss or male pattern baldness may not interact confidently with others. Such people can perform hair transplantation with the help of plastic surgery. Plastic surgery can thus help people to enhance their looks and thereby it can improve their mental health. Things to be remembered before conducting plastic surgery As mentioned earlier, plastic surgery is not free from side effects or dangers. It requires anesthesia of different types to perform simple and complex plastic surgeries. The risks associated with anesthesia and other surgeries are always there while performing plastic surgery. So plastic surgery should be performed only in unavoidable circumstances. In other words, for silly or simple reasons, it is not advisable to perform plastic surgery. For example, there are many teenage girls, below eighteen years of age, approaching plastic surgeons for the enlargement of their breasts. Their growth cycle need not be completed by the age of 18. In other words they have a good chance to grow their breasts naturally. Under such circumstances plastic surgeons will normally try to prevent such teenagers from conducting breast enlargement surgeries because of the possibility of future problems. In short, plastic surgery should never be considered as an immediate option. It should be performed only if the problems were severe and all the other options were unavailable. A comprehensive consultation with the plastic surgeon is necessary before a person decides in favor or against performing a plastic surgery. Plastic surgeons can educate a patient about what results can be expected after the surgery and the possible risks and side effects associated with plastic surgery. Conclusions Plastic surgery is a surgical procedure to enhance beauty or to reconstruct lost body organs. When it is performed for enhancing beauty, it is referred as cosmetic plastic surgery whereas when it is performed for reconstructing body organs, it is referred as reconstructive plastic surgery. One of the major advantages of plastic surgery is its ability to conduct surgery without leaving much surgical marks on the body. Plastic surgery involves many risks and it should be performed only in unavoidable circumstances. References 1. Bates C. (2010). The smile that defies the Taliban: Afghan teenager whose mutilated face shocked the world unveils her new image. Mail Online. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1319804/Afghan-girl-Bibi-Aisha-nose-ears-hacked-Taliban-rule-gets-new-face.html 2. Cleatus S. MD. (n. d). What is plastic surgery?. Retrieved from http://www.plasticsurgeryplc.com/plasticsurgery-faq.htm 3. Overview of Plastic Surgery (n. d). The Ohio State University Medical Center. Retrieved from http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/patientcare/healthcare_services/plastic_surgery/overview_of_plastic_surgery/Pages/index.aspx 4. Plastic surgery, (2008). University of Maryland Medical Center. Retrieved from http://www.umm.edu/plassurg/csmetics.htm 5. What Is Cosmetic Surgery? What Is Plastic Surgery?, (2009). Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/155757.php Read More