Plastic Surgery

Plastic Surgery gives you a new look   

Plastic surgery is a term that almost everybody is familiar with. The origin of the term can be traced to ancient Greece where ‘plastikos’ meant the art of changing or giving a new shape. Because plastic surgery has some of these features and is basically a sort of corrective surgery, hence the name. This type of surgery has two basic types including reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. It is said that the first ever surgery of this sort was performed a British soldier called Walter Yeo. The techniques of reconstructive surgery were experimented with as early as 2000 BC in India and it is believed that British doctors visited the country to witness the use of local methods to carry out such a task. The Romans could perform surgeries to restore damaged ears.

One of the most common procedures that are used in plastic surgery is that of skin grafting.  This enables the transfer of skin tissue. There are three different types of skin grafting and these include Xenografts, Autografts and Allografts. Xenografts imply the transference of a tissue from a donor belonging to a different specie altogether while in Allografts the skin grafts or tissues are taken from donor belonging to the same specie. In an Autografts procedure, the grafts or tissues belong to the recipient of the treatment.

On the other hand, reconstructive surgery is done to repair functional injuries like developmental abnormalities, burns, removal of malignant or cancerous tumors, intense injuries like fracture of the facial bones, infectious diseases and congenital abnormalities. It is done to restore these damaged body parts so that they once again begin to function normally.

With the advancement of medical science, a variety of plastic surgery procedures are used these days to restore or correct functional impairments. These include-

• Cheek augmentation
• Buttock augmentation
• Abdominal etching
• Buttock lift
• Breast augmentation
• Brow lift
• Otoplasty
• Laser skin resurfacing
• Labiaplasty
• Abdominoplasty
• Chemical peel
• Rhinoplasty
• Cheek lift
• Suction-assisted lipectomy
• Chin augmentation
• Face lift and collagen
• Fat and tissue filler injections 

According to a survey approximately 11 million people opted for plastic surgery in the United States alone in 2006. The increasing popularity of this can be attributed to the desire amongst the baby boomers generation to look much younger than their actual age. They do not hesitate to go under the knife for these cosmetic changes and are willing to spend the requisite amount for it.

However, those of you who wish to change something about the way they look and are willing to go for plastic surgery should keep in mind that it cannot change your appearance drastically. Therefore one should not be banking on it for a complete change. Moreover, you need to find yourself a proper surgeon who would explain the nuances of the surgery and its pros and cons. You should decide on the surgery only when you are completely convinced of the procedure and its implications after a full fledged discussion with your doctor.