Plastic surgery alters certain areas of the body to treat medical problems or improve appearance. Surgeons can perform procedures on the face, neck, breasts, stomach, arms, and legs. Reconstructive surgery repairs defects or injuries and restores function.
Cosmetic surgery
improves appearance for non-medical reasons.The term plastic surgery comes from the Greek word plastikos, which means to mold or shape. The field of plastic surgery can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive procedures and cosmetic procedures. Both are generally considered subspecialties of plastic surgery. While health insurance rarely covers the cost of cosmetic procedures, the number of people who decide to have cosmetic plastic surgery continues to increase.
The main cosmetic surgeries are breast augmentation, liposuction, nose remodeling, eyelid surgery, tummy tuck and facelifting. For example, a cosmetic plastic surgeon may have special experience revising scars or facelifts, while a reconstructive plastic surgeon may specialize in trauma repair or limb recovery. Unlike most surgical specialties that are defined by an anatomical area, plastic surgery is defined by the surgical techniques that are performed. The development of weapons such as machine guns and explosive projectiles during World War I created trench warfare, causing a rapid increase in the number of mutilations on the face and head of soldiers, since trenches primarily protected the body.
Pre-surgery and post-surgery images provide potential patients with realistic and real examples of problems that can be addressed and the results obtained with different types of surgeries. Reconstructive plastic surgeons and aesthetic plastic surgeons treat a large number of issues related to both function and form. The first American plastic surgeon was John Peter Mettauer, who, in 1827, performed the first cleft palate operation with instruments that he designed himself.
Many birth defects or syndromes that occur at birth are best treated in childhood, and pediatric plastic surgeons specialize in
the treatment of these conditions in children.A corollary to this is that plastic surgery in all its forms is all about function and appearance. Reconstructive plastic surgery is performed to correct functional deficiencies caused by burns; traumatic injuries, such as facial bone fractures and breaks; congenital anomalies, such as a cleft palate or cleft lip; developmental anomalies; infections and diseases; and cancer or tumors. Regardless of the plastic surgery procedure being planned, it is very important that patients talk to their surgeon in advance about the expected aesthetic outcome to ensure that appropriate expectations are met. From complex surgeries to repair damaged limbs, diseased organs and other structures to elective procedures to improve appearance, plastic surgery is used to solve a wide range of problems. Plastic surgeons are doctors (MD) or osteopathic medicine (DO) doctors who complete additional years of training in specialized surgery.
Gillies himself was sent to Rooksdown House, near Basingstoke, which became the army's main plastic surgery unit; Tommy Kilner (who had worked with Gillies during World War I and now has a surgical instrument named after him, the Kilner cheek Retractor) went to Queen Mary's Hospital in Roehampton; and Mowlem went to St Albans.
