A Brief Overview Of Plastic Surgery
Centuries ago, the first plastic surgery was performed. Since then it has become much more well known and understood. Today it’s sub-fields, reconstructive and cosmetic surgery, along with their many sub-categories have increased dramatically in popularity. Contrary to it’s sometimes negative associations, many individuals are able to find great comfort from the self esteem and functional body recovery that this branch of medicine provides.
The earliest known examples of cosmetic procedures performed by surgeons were in India circa eight hundred B. C. There the first “nose jobs”, more officially known as rhinoplasties, were given to patients. Other ancient cultures, including the Romans, Egyptians and Greeks had their own ways of performing procedures. The term plastic surgery, comes from plastikos, a Greek word meaning to mold or give form. Ancient surgeons did not have access to today’s technology and so used simpler tools and methods. It is interesting to see that ancient humans too were so concerned with physical appearance and it is not a modern development.
World War I directly influenced the modernization of this surgical discipline. The rapid development of new medical technologies in this field of medicine began as a result of the return of injured soldiers. Surgeons had to create new techniques to fix facial and bodily injures soldiers had incurred during the war.
Reconstructive and cosmetic are the two major branches of plastic surgery. Reconstructive is usually used to help improve the way a patient’s body works. The optimization of physical features is the typical motivation for cosmetic.
Although reconstructive surgeons usually focus on the body’s functional improvement they can also help a patient achieve a normal appearance. Much reconstruction focuses on burns, developmental abnormalities, cancer and tumors. Some procedures these doctors commonly perform involve repairing scar tissue, removing cancer and tumors, hand repair and breast reduction.
Breast augmentation, nose jobs, liposuction and tummy tucks are some of the many procedures that cosmetic surgeons perform. They are also licensed to administer botox and laser hair removal. These last two are non-surgical procedures.
In the past century, and especially the past twenty years, plastic surgery has grown by leaps and bounds from it’s ancient beginnings. As patient demand has risen, the field has moved forward and both sub-fields, reconstructive and cosmetic, have branched out into many more sub-specialties. Some of the sub-specialists are craniofacial, burns, hands, micro, and pediatric surgeons.
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