Cosmetic Surgery 101
Cosmetic Surgery is simply surgery performed to amend a physical irregularity, or to just improve a seemingly normal physical aspect and hence making the person look more appealing and beautiful. Cosmetic surgery is a tremendously comprehensive subject that ranges from reconstructive surgical procedures for patients who may have suffered a burn, damaging the skin, or other physical disturbances; to beauty enhancing surgery such as removing wrinkles or straightening a crooked nose.
The history of cosmetic surgery has been known to stretch back as far as 4000 years into the past, with documentation being found where the use of surgery to make amends to facial wounds has been stated. Possibly since the creation of time, humankind had been enthusiastic about perfecting themselves. Hence it should not be astonishing that cosmetic surgery may have been earliest methods of healing.
But it was not until the 20th century, when war caused the wounded soldiers to need facial reconstruction, that the major leaps in development in cosmetic surgery took place. It was, in fact, World War I that brought cosmetic surgery to a whole new level of understanding in the world of medical science.
Military physicians were constantly needed to take care of many grave head and facial injuries caused by new and more lethal weaponry, the form of injuries that only a handful had seen before. These type of injuries required courageous surgeons to take new steps in the field of reconstructive surgery. A number of Europe’s most talented surgeons dedicated their career to reconstructive surgery, to bring their country’s injured soldiers to their original fullness.
During this time, surgeons began to realize the possible impact that can occur in a person’s life, caused simply by a change in their physical appearance. This development also caused surgeons to better grasp the uses and methods in infection prevention as well as anesthesia. This permitted surgeons to perform a wider variety of complicated operations in numerous fields other than cosmetic surgery.
Facial cosmetic surgery is usually performed to achieve one of two objectives. To either bring about a younger looking radiance to the skin, or to enhance the shape and structure to the facial aspects such as the brow, eyes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin. A few of the more familiar forms of facial cosmetic surgery are listed below:
- Face Lift: Face lift surgery is likely to be more popular than most other facial cosmetic surgeries. It is designed to work on average to deep wrinkles and lessen or completely remove the noticeable signs of ageing, such as sagging skin of the face. This surgery is perfect for individuals who are worried about deep wrinkles and problematic skin in the lower two-third portions of the face.
- Brow Lift: Brow lift surgery, known also as forehead lift surgery, is a comparatively simple form of cosmetic surgery which concentrates on noticeable lines and wrinkles on the forehead, as well as hooded brows. The operation can make the patient look younger and relaxed, as well as remove the harsh look from your brows.
- Eyelid Surgery: Also known as blepharoplasty, this form of cosmetic surgery involves eliminating the surplus skin and fat around the eyes. The purpose of eyelid surgery is to revitalize the eyes with youthfulness and remove the tired look of ageing eyes from them. This operation may also be performed to work against the functional difficulties caused by awfully droopy eyelids, which includes weakened eyesight.
- Cheek Augmentation: Cheek augmentation is an appealing cosmetic surgery. It is the answer to people who are looking for an improvement on their facial definition. Numerous forms of cheek implants are available, and they can be shaped and sized according the patients desires to fight the signs of aging, as well as enhance facial structures.
- Ear Surgery: Also known as Ear Pinning or Otoplasty, it is a surgery that may be performed on both children and adults with protruding ears. Such a facial cosmetic surgery can be performed on those with overly large or protruding ears to lessen the related social anxiety. Contrary to popular belief, Otoplasty does not improve hearing.
- Lip Augmentation: Soft, flexible lip implants or cosmetic dermal fillers may be used to perform lip augmentation. The purpose of such a surgery is to produce fuller and more youthful lips.
- Cosmetic Chin Surgery: The goal of such a surgery is simply to either to shrink or to develop the chin, and it is usually part of a package which also includes Rhinoplasty or cosmetic improvements to the nose. Usual participants of this surgery are men and women who seek to bring a balance to their facial aspects or to create a stronger profile.
- Rhinoplasty (Nose Job): Also known as nasal reshaping, is a well-renowned form of facial cosmetic surgery that helps bring about a balance to the different facial features. Rhinoplasty may be performed to correct abnormalities in the nose, such as a deviated septum, or for purely cosmetic reasons.
There are many stories that facial cosmetic surgery is successful, and most of the time they are. As seen in the story of Debbie, a mother who had loose skin around her neck and believed that the droopy eyelids always gave the impression of fatigue. After seeing a facial cosmetic surgeon, Debbie underwent a face lift, which amended her loose skin and a pre-jowl implant improved her jawline and gave her a stronger definition. She also had a rhinoplasty done to bring straightness to her bridge and improve the tip of the nose. Even though her breathing difficulties were not her main interest, she was astonished at the fact that her breathing had become clearer.
In the month that came after her surgery, she attended her son’s wedding where she received one compliment after another. Everyone said that she looked so much younger and so beautiful. There were no visible scars left and no numbness in the areas of the incision, as told by Debbie herself. She also had negligible swelling and minor bruising.
Another successful story of a facial cosmetic surgery is the story of Erin, a 23 year old who was not satisfied with the way her nose looked. This happened after an unsuccessful rhinoplasty performed by another surgeon. As her swelling went down, she began to notice unevenness in her nose. By performing another rhinoplasty, the surgeon slightly elongated her nose, brought it nearer to her face and smoothed the unevenness. Now her nose is in a balance with all the other features of her face, and has a natural and unhampered appearance.
Facial cosmetic surgeries are very popular nowadays, with people spending over 8.4 billion dollars on cosmetic surgeries alone, as reported by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). But there is no fixed price to the surgeries performed on the patients. The cost differs in each separate surgery, based on the surgery itself and the patient’s requirements. Some procedures are available which are quite cheap – some are less than $100. Other surgeries may become quite expensive – ranging to tens of thousands of dollars.
Microdermabrasion is probably the cheapest facial surgery available. A microdermabrasion treatment will cost about $175, A Botox treatment about $350, which was one of the most admired surgical procedures. Costs go up as the surgery gets more and more complex. On the more expensive scales, a Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery) will cost over $2500, a Rhinoplasty will cost over $3300. Facelifts will cost about $5000, which is quite reasonable considering the years of age the surgeon will remove and the younger looking skin you will be getting! Facial cosmetic surgery may be expensive, but if you and your surgeon know what you are doing, then the results may be invaluable.
Although cosmetic surgery is usually successful, there are a few complications and side effects that can take place. They are as follows:
- Nausea and Vomiting: This is the most common side effect that occurs after surgery. This is mostly caused by the anesthesia that is used to put the patient to sleep. However, numerous surgeons are going for localized anesthetics that won’t require anesthesiologist to be present. Performing the surgery in this manner decreases the patients’ problems regarding nausea and vomiting.
- Suture Complication: A common difficulty faced by a few patients after surgery is the sutures used to seal the skin tissue until the tissue has healed completely. If these sutures are not tight enough, they may cause from negligible to enormous amount of internal bleeding or hernias. If this problem is not handled quick enough, it may cause a huge amount of blood to be lost. It will also require added surgery to heal the damaged area.
- Blood Clot: Blood clotting occurs when a part of the body has remained stationary for too long, for example when healing an area after surgery. The blood begins to pool in that area, which later turns into a clot. If the clot disintegrates slowly, then there is no potential risk or health hazard. But if the whole clot is freed, then it may travel all around the body before it reaches the heart or the brain, causing an immediate heart attack or stroke to occur.
Cosmetic surgery is a way to defeat ageing, bring back your youthful skin as well as reconstructing the face if necessary. But you should not rely solely upon cosmetic surgery. You should balance it by following a healthy lifestyle which will also help you retain your youth even better.
Reference(s):
- http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cosmetic-surgery.htm
- http://plasticsurgery.about.com/od/historyofplasticsurgery/a/history_of_PS.htm
- http://www.docshop.com/education/cosmetic/face/
- http://www.granthamilton.com/UIFPS/Case_Study_01.html
- http://www.granthamilton.com/UIFPS/Case_Study_02.html
- http://www.essortment.com/articles/facial_surgery_cost_boyd_4548.htm
- http://www.ehow.com/about_4827336_complications-side-effects-cosmetic-surgery.html
7 Most Popular Cosmetic Surgery Procedures
Cosmetic surgery is gaining rapid popularirty among people everywhere. It has to do with the rising consciousness for beauty amongst the people. In their pursuit of beauty, they are going for everything that is needed to keep that fresh look alive. Here, some cosmetic surgery procedures have been discussed.
Juvederm
Juverderm is the future of the cosmtic surgery. People are now so time pressed that they want quick procedures that require almost no time for recovery. Juverderm is gaining popularity among the customers because cosmetic, plastic and dermatological surgeons use it. As such it is one of the fastest expanding non-surgical methods of beautification in the US.
Juvederm is used for plumping up folds, fill the verticals between the eyebrows, to uplift the hollow areas under the eyes etc. Juvederm uses hyaluronic acid since it maintains skin hydration properly.
The benefits of this is that it is less expensive than surgery and patients need to time to recover. They can resume work anytime.
Facelift
Facelift is one of the most sought after surgeries because of the very simple fact that the face is the most important part of a human being’s appearance. It is especially important to the ladies and so they are its premium customers. Facial skin may loosen and muscles in the face may weaken due to the age, sun exposure etc. facelift surgery tightens the skin around the face and neck. But it is most effective in the lower region of the face.
Liposuction
Liposuction or Suction Lipoplasty helps patients to get rid of excess fat that they fail to remove through dieting and exercising. In case of protruding abdomen, the liposuction gives the body a more slender look. This is the reason why there were 11. Million people doing this surgery in 2007.liposuction is pretty expensive, starting around $5000. If you wish to get one of these, be ready to answer some personal questions like:
• Maximum weight, including pregnancy time
• Minimum weight
• Stability of weight
• Frequency of workouts
• Eating habits
After the procedure, you have a slender body with more psychological boost. This will also give you the incentive to work and keep fit. You must keep in mind that you have to exercise regularly to keep up the body shape.
Tummy Tuck
Another name for this surgery is abdominolasty. Here the abdomen muscles are tightened to give the abdomen a smooth, flat and better appearance. Weight gain/loss, pregnancy etc may cause the abdomen skin to stretch beyond its normal level. At times like this, you need tummy tucks.
Eyelid Surgery ( Blepharoplasty )
Eyelid surgery is done to get rid of wrinkles in the region of the eyes. Fat and skin begin accumulating near the eyes. This makes the eyes droop and makes us look older. Surgery itself removes fat and excess skin from the eyelids. Thus the person attains a younger look and a refreshed tone. in the eyes.
Rhinoplasty
Nose job is done for many reasons. One of the non cosmetic reasons is that it has to be done to free up the air passage so that you can breathe freely. For cosmetic purposes, its goal is to enhance the look of the person by making the nose complement the rest of the face. This is a pretty easy surgery and a good doctor can do it without causing permanent scars.
Lip Augmentation
Lips frame the smile and as such, play a very important role. If you are looking for fuller lips, or simply have wrinkled lips that you want to make supple, then lip augmentation is the way for you. But be sure to discuss the aspect of surgery with the doctor. Or else, you may end up not getting the desired look that you wanted.
Cosmetic Surgery Power
Cosmetic Surgery involves the process of surgery that allows one to enhance a particle change into the appearance they desire. This method is slightly different to other plastic surgery because it deals mostly with maintaining normal appearance, and restoring it, or going towards an aesthetic outlook.
Cosmetic Surgery is not frowned upon as much as it was even five years ago. In fact, this business has made its way to the top where in 2006 alone there were about 11 million cosmetic surgeries performed with United States of America alone. The demand has increased with the importance of glam and physical beauty especially through the projection of perfect Hollywood figures. Added with worsening of obesity problems in America where one in three happen to be on the plus side, the desire for quick-fix in the weight department is popular than ever.
One of the most popular methods of Cosmetic Surgery is liposuction, which is basically a procedure where fat is sucked out of certain portions of the body, and most prefer to have it around there thighs or abdomen. In fact, in the U.K. there has been a 90 percent increase in the number of patients willing to go for liposuctions in the year 2006. Imagine the statistics now? Experts claim that in general, there has been a surgery increase to up to 31 percent.
There is of course no procedure related to medicine that can come without side effects. There are certain complications to watch out for so it is always important to do the following before going for cosmetic surgery:
· Know that it’s not meant for a diet health program
· Know about the background and certification of the doctor who will be operating on you
· Declare the entire family medical history to your doctor, people with high blood pressure or diabetics are usually forbidden to go through cosmetic surgery
It is estimated that every 7 out of 1,000 liposuction operations are to have certain side effects out of which 20 percent have been classified as major.
Also remember that liposuction is not a cure for obesity. Although the fat is being removed in some areas of the body, there will still be a continuation of storing fat or it will be accumulated in other parts of the body. In case, your plan to Cosmetic Surgery is to lose weight, know that the doctors will immediately tell you to step back from the process.
Other Cosmetic Surgery includes, the eye lids, eye brow lift, face lift, nose job, lips and ears and much more. It is all about reshaping and refreshing the image, a procedure that has taken over the world where a yearly market estimated that the amount spent on surgery per year is around $15 billion in USA. Many believe that Cosmetic Surgery is important for saving jobs because nowadays it is all about looking sharp, young and energetic to have better career opportunities, if not for climbing the social ladder in a given organisation.For a lower cost many prefer going to Cuba, Thailand, India, and Argentina but always remember that the risk involved does exist and must never be overlooked.