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 20^th 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):

1. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cosmetic-surgery.htm
2. http://plasticsurgery.about.com/od/historyofplasticsurgery/a/history_of_PS.htm
3. http://www.docshop.com/education/cosmetic/face/
4. http://www.granthamilton.com/UIFPS/Case_Study_01.html
5. http://www.granthamilton.com/UIFPS/Case_Study_02.html
6. http://www.essortment.com/articles/facial_surgery_cost_boyd_4548.htm
7. http://www.ehow.com/about_4827336_complications-side-effects-cosmetic-surgery.html
   

A simple thing people don’t want to understand is that they might not have be able to cope up with the new looks they are going to get after a cosmetic surgery. That’s the exact point mentioned by ANTHONY NAPOLEON, Awakening Beauty.

If someone goes for extensive cosmetic surgeries, then she is just making herself the Bride of Frankenstein. That’s why good cosmetic surgeons never want someone to go for repeated surgeries. MICHELLE COPELAND, Change Your Looks, Change Your Life, has emphasized this point vehemently.

The person who made the concept of cosmetic surgeries legendary- Michael Jackson; yet feels like he hasn’t got enough after successive surgeries all over his body. His biographer Ian Halperin says that, the star will go under knives once again prior to his tour in London. Only God knows what the pop god wants from his looks!

This is not the case with all the stars! There are plenty of celebrities who hasn’t gone for cosmetic surgeries and don’t want to go either. Kate Winslet- the double Oscar winner actress has revealed that she’d prefer to get old as per the allowance of the nature and she never minds the wrinkles as she grows old.

Cosmetic surgery is no fairy tale where everything will turn magically into anything. It’s a part of the harsh reality and not to mention a sector of very logical science. There are limits as well as disadvantages to it.

People tend to opt for cosmetic surgeries because of the stars and celebrities they like are going for it. Of course it is totally up to the person what type of surgery s/he wants to do. But its never good to overdo with cosmetic surgeries. Take it from a professional MICHELLE COPELAND, from Change Your Looks, Change Your Life who says, overdoing with cosmetic surgeries is like turning yourself into Frankenstein’s wife!

Another pro ANTHONY NAPOLEON, from Awakening Beauty- added to this statement the risks associated with cosmetic surgeries. According to him the psychological risk of coping up with the post surgery situations most of the time tops all the financial and physical risk incorporated with cosmetic surgeries.

Although the concepts of cosmetic surgeries sound pretty contemporary- they are not as new as they are perceived to be. The practice of many cosmetic surgery procedures started long ago- around the time when the concept of surgeries first hit the civilization.

Take rhinoplasty for example. According to many scholars^{(1. Rodolphe Meyer, Jean-Claude Berset, J -F Emeri, D Simmen, Secondary Rhinoplasty)} , the trend of doing reconstructive surgeries on noses dates back as far as 4000 years! Not exactly rhinoplasty though, but similar activities are noted in the middle ages in lands like; Sicily, Germany and India. However, the journey of the corrective rhinoplasty started no later than two decades ago.

The risk assessment with rhinoplasty ia normally very high. Its because no matter how efficient and experienced a cosmetic surgeon might be, everyone would admit that, almost with each surgery some risk of secondary deformities are associated (although only 10% require a secondary procedure ²). While surgery performed on any other part of one’s body, the visual errors may be covered up. But nose is kind of a focus of the face. And the change in nose pattern has the most significant effect on face. So as its true that beautifying the nose will enhance the face to greater degrees, its also true that the deformities and errors would have hideous impact both physical and mental on a patient.

What is a corrective rhinoplasty?

Of all the corrective surgeries those are carried out, corrective rhinoplasty is the most efficient one. Many medical journals these days reveal the fact that, the best way of obtaining successful results through Rhinoplasty is to have it perfectly done at the first try. However, according to experienced surgeons- for a successful and complete result through the surgery, numbers of touch ups are absolutely necessary. But important thing to remember here is the adequate care and time that is to be deposited throughout the touch up sessions^{(3. Trenite Nolst, Trenite Nolst G J Nolst Trenité, Rhinoplasty)} .

Where artistic judgment cannot be measured in tangible form, the actual excellence in the most successful rhinoplasty cannot be stated in statistics. Lets just put it this way that, these rhinoplasties have been able to accentuate the beauty  of a human face with the change brought in them- rather than making them look excruciatingly weird.

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.

“A 60-year-old Chinese woman called Chen, who looks younger in the wake of a series of cosmetic surgery procedures, returned to the hospital this week in Hankou, Hubei, to ask doctors to restore her original old appearance.”- cosmetic-surgery-blog, August 18, 2007. Why you ask? Its because her husband thought she’d fall in love with one of the many local men starting to invite her. The moral of the story, facial cosmetic surgery works, sometimes better that you’d imagine. So careful what you wish for.

What about the men? Do you think they’re falling behind in the race? Wrong. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons‚ the number of cosmetic procedures on men grew by 16 per cent between 2000 and 2005.

Now, should we take that as a sign of good? Not necessarily. Men don’t seem to be happy with the one in the mirror anymore. Take Michael Jackson as an example. Believe it or not, he’s preparing to go under the knife again!

And as Kathy said with a smile, “So that’s my new thing — I like my body now. For 47, it’s pretty darn good. And I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m never going to be Jennifer Aniston”

Who can forget Rachel Green from the hit TV series FRIENDS? She’d been one of my favorite stars for, lets see now… as long as I can remember. I was so pissed at Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt that I actually stopped watching their movies. According to her publicist: The famed star Jennifer Aniston had surgery to “correct a deviated septum that was incorrectly done over 12 years ago.” She said it was not for cosmetic surgery. But I wonder… She had the same nose 10 years ago after all!

It’s not always a rosy path for the celebrities though. Take Lisa Rinna for instance. She regrets her needy-happy overdoing with plastic surgery. Lisa’s face hasn’t moved in a decade. And guess what? She says she officially went off the deep end when she got, get this, cheek injections!

Wonder who’s up for those cheeky injections now? Nicole Kidman? I hope not!