Plastic surgery is a field of medicine that almost everyone has heard of and knows the meaning of. It includes the procedures for reshaping the desired parts of the body. Well, have you ever thought about why these procedures are called plastic surgery? In our article, you can find the answer to this question and other details about the kind of problems plastic surgery provides solutions to.
Table of Contents
Definition of Plastic Surgery
Plastic surgery includes procedures performed for aesthetic purposes. It is generally thought to be the same as reconstructive surgery. However, it should not be forgotten that both terms have different meanings.
Reconstructive surgery covers the fixing of a deformity whereas plastic surgery is purely for aesthetic reasons.
For example, those who have sagging on their face and are not happy about it can benefit from the facelift procedure. This is purely for aesthetic purposes. On the other hand, a person whose face has deteriorated due to skin cancer can be considered a good candidate for reconstructive surgery.
When Did Plastic Surgery Start?
It would not be wrong to say that this concept has become more popular lately. This may lead to the thought that this field has emerged recently. However, people used to have the art of changing body many years ago.
Healing, considered one of the oldest arts in the world has been used by people for thousands of years to bring back and restore body health. The methods and techniques used in the past constitute the basis of today’s plastic surgery. With the changing world and developing technology, serious changes and developments have occurred in this field too.
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When Did Cosmetic Surgery Become a Common Practice?
Surprisingly, the emergence of this field goes thousands of years back. We can list its historical development as follows:
| 2000 BC: | The first written evidence of the methods used in the treatment of skin and facial injuries belongs to this period. |
| 800 BC: | Skin grafts and reconstructive techniques were used in ancient India. |
| 1460 A.D: | The first medical texts on rhinoplasty were prepared. |
| The 1700s: | Western doctors started to visit Eastern countries and learned the procedures used there and brought them to Europe. |
| 1794: | Dermatoplasty procedure was first published and implemented. |
| 1827: | The first cleft palate surgery was performed. |
| 1800 – 1900: | Plastic surgery developments began to be performed to cure the traumatic injuries caused by wars throughout the world. The first textbook on this field was also published in this period. |
| 1924: | The first official curriculum for plastic surgery was prepared at John Hopkins. |
| 1930 – 1940: | For the developments in this field to proceed more professionally and planned, the American Plastic Surgery Board was founded in addition to the American Plastic Surgery Board. |
| 1942: | This field became prominent for the treatment of the injured in wars and started to be known by the public. Also, in this year, breast augmentation trials were performed in Japan for the first time in the world. |
| 1962: | The silicone breast implant was successfully performed for the first time in Texas. |
Where Does the Term Plastic Surgery Come From?
Does plastic surgery use plastic? Of course NO! Although this field is called plastic surgery, there is no relationship between this field and the plastic material we know today. In other words, plastic materials are not used in plastic surgeries. This is just a symbolic term.
As with many terms in the field of medicine, here there is also an inspiration from a word in Greek. This name is derived from the Greek word “Plastikos”, which means to shape or mold something.
The term plastic surgery was first used in the 1800s to express the body reshaping and molding procedures performed by the surgeon. In later periods, it started to be used widely.
What Kind of Problems Can Plastic Surgery Solve?
The field of medicine is divided into two classes as aesthetic and reconstructive. Their fields of interest differ. Let’s give some additional details to the information given above:
Plastic Reconstructive Surgery
Reconstructive surgery covers the surgical procedures performed to fix the deformity caused by some reason. It is used for serious health conditions such as functional disorders caused by burns, congenital abnormalities such as the cleft palate and cleft lip, traumatic injuries such as facial bone fractures. Diseases and conditions within the scope of this field can be listed as follows:
- Facial deformities such as congenital bulks, asymmetries, and rare facial clefts
- Cleft lip-palate
- Craniofacial – maxillofacial anomalies such as shape irregularities, disorders, and deficiencies of the face, skull, and jawbones
- Orthognathic surgery (Jaw closure disorders)
- Acute burns and deformities, contractions, shrinkages caused by burns
- Damages caused by electricity and chemicals in soft tissues
- Skin and subcutaneous wounds due to infection, radiation, and other effects
- Fixing of genital organs, replantation of ruptured organs
- Abdominal wall and chest defects
- Hand Surgery (Traumas, finger transfers, finger fixing, and lengthening, etc.)
- Deficiencies and deformities in the hands and feet
- Chronic wounds (diabetic foot wounds, pressure sores, venous wounds, etc.)
- Prominent ear, absence of auricle, and other similar deformities
- Nose ruptures, defects, tumors
- Head and neck tumors and elimination of their defects
- Absence of breast, excess breast tissue, or asymmetry
- Breast reconstruction after cancer
- Gynecomastia (Large breast seen in men)
- Congenital anomalies seen in genital organs (Epispadias, vaginal agenesis, hypospadias etc.)
- Salivary gland problems
- Congenital tumor, nevus (mole), bulks, vascular malformations, hemangiomas
- Facial bone and soft tissue traumas
- Maxillofacial Surgery (Bone defects-fractures-shape and function disorders caused by traffic accident, tumor and other reasons)
- Peripheral nerve problems
- Skin and soft tissue tumors
Cosmetic Plastic Surgery
Aesthetic or cosmetic plastic surgery covers the procedures to improve the appearance of people using surgical methods. These are the procedures for preserving the current appearance, restoring the earlier appearance, or changing it differently. Below are the situations within the scope of this field:
- Nose correction in terms of aesthetics and functionality such as rhinoplasty
- Breast augmentation, reduction, and lifting operations
- Procedures to reduce subcutaneous fat (liposuction-lipectomy)
- Abdominoplasty (Tummy tuck)
- Facelift, circumoral and eyelid revisions, treatment of wrinkles
- Endoscopic face-forehead lift
- Eyebrow lift
- Leg contour correction (leg implants, fat removal, and injections)
- Contour corrections (prostheses placed in soft tissue) with implants (hip and thigh implants, leg implants, etc.)
- Skincare and interventions
- Blepharoplasty (Eyelid surgery)
- Prominent ear and elimination of aesthetic problems in the auricle
- Mentoplasty (jaw augmentation and reduction operations)
- Elimination of scars and irregularities on the skin
- Hair Transplantation & Beard Transplantation
- Laser applications for purposes such as removing spots and vascular malformations and facial peeling
These are the cases where the appearance is changed for solely aesthetic purposes, considering the wishes of the patient.
Why is Cosmetic Surgery Preferred So Much?
There are different reasons why patients prefer cosmetic surgeries. The outstanding ones are as follows:
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Today plastic surgery, which has a history of thousands of years, successfully enables people to have the appearance they want. Reshaping almost every part of the body is possible with the mentioned surgeries.
It should never be forgotten that it is crucial to choose the right clinic and surgeon. Cosmeticium offers professional solutions for all your plastic surgery needs. Contact us to meet your expectations and needs at the highest level with our experienced and expert surgeons.
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