Cosmetic Surgery defined as a subspecialty of surgery that uniquely restricts itself to the enhancement of appearance through surgical and medical techniques. It is specifically concerned with maintaining normal appearance, restoring it, or enhancing it beyond the average level toward some aesthetic ideal. In 2006, nearly 11 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in the United States alone.

It is important to distinguish the terms "plastic surgery" and "cosmetic surgery": Plastic Surgery is a recognized surgical specialty and is defined as the subspecialty dedicated to the surgical repair of defects of form or function -- this includes cosmetic (or aesthetic) surgery, as well as reconstructive surgery. The term "cosmetic surgery" however, refers to surgery that is designed to improve cosmetics alone. Many other surgical specialists are also required to learn certain cosmetic procedures during their training programs. Contributing disciplines include dermatology, general surgery, plastic surgery, otolaryngology, maxillofacial surgery, and oculoplastic surgery.

Many women are turning to breast surgery to keep their youthful look and maintain their self confidence. Breast reduction surgery, breast enhancement surgery, and breast augmentation surgery are all popular options for breast cosmetic surgery. Before you go under the knife, there are some things you should know about the procedure so you can make an informed decision.

Today, cosmetic surgery is done not just because of these two examples. It is now performed to enhance a person's beauty and physical attributes. One popular type of breast enhancement surgery is the breast uplift augmentation surgery. This breast surgery is basically a combination surgery. Breast augmentation surgery is a surgery to make the breast larger. This is done through the use of implants. An incision is made below the breast or on the areola, to hide the scar. Then, a fluid filled implant is positioned inside the incision. The implant is filled with saline or silicone, and provides a natural, firm appearance

The most prevalent aesthetic/cosmetic procedures are listed below. Most of these types of surgery are more commonly known by their "common names." These are also listed when pertinent.

• Abdominoplasty (or "tummy tuck"): reshaping and firming of the abdomen
• Blepharoplasty (or "eyelid surgery"): Reshaping of the eyelids or the application of permanent eyeliner, including Asian blepharoplasty

• Mammoplasty

  • Breast augmentation (or "breast enlargement" or "boob job"): Augmentation of the breasts. This can involve either fat grafting, saline or silicone gel prosthetics. Initially performed to women with micromastia
  • Breast reduction: Removal of skin and glandular tissue. Indicated to reduce back and shoulder pain in women with gigantomastia and/or for psychological benefit in women with gigantomastia/macromastia and men with gynecomastia.
  • Breast lift (Mastopexy): Lifting or reshaping of breasts to make them less saggy, often after weight loss (after a pregnancy, for example). It involves removal of breast skin as opposed to glandular tissue.
• Buttock Augmentation (or "butt augmentation" or "butt implants"): Enhancement of the buttocks. This procedure can be performed by using silicone implants or fat grafting and transfer from other areas of the body.
• Chemical peel: Minimizing the appearance of acne, pock, and other scars as well as wrinkles (depending on concentration and type of agent used, except for deep furrows), solar lentigines (age spots, freckles), and photodamage in general. Chemical peels commonly involve carbolic acid (Phenol), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), glycolic acid (AHA), or salicylic acid (BHA) as the active agent.
• Labiaplasty: Surgical reduction and reshaping of the labia
• Rhinoplasty (or "nose job"): Reshaping of the nose
• Otoplasty (or ear surgery): Reshaping of the ear
• Rhytidectomy (or "face lift"): Removal of wrinkles and signs of aging from the face
• Suction-Assisted Lipectomy (or liposuction): Removal of fat from the body
• Chin augmentation: Augmentation of the chin with an implant (e.g. silicone) or by sliding genioplasty of the jawbone.
• Cheek augmentation
• Collagen, fat, and other tissue filler injections (e.g. hyaluronic acid)
• Laser skin resurfacing
• Male Pectoral Implant : It is a procedure used to enhance chest size in men by inserting silicone implants under the chest muscle.

In recent years, a growing number of patients seeking cosmetic surgery have visited other countries to find doctors with lower costs.These medical tourists seek to get their procedures done for a cost savings in countries including Cuba, Thailand, Argentina, India, and some areas of eastern Europe. The risk of complications and the lack of after surgery support are often overlooked by those simply looking for the cheapest option.

 Plastic surgery

Plastic surgery is a medical and cosmetic specialty interested in the correction of form and function. While famous for aesthetic surgery, plastic surgery also includes a variety of fields: craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, burn surgery, microsurgery, and pediatric surgery. The word "plastic" derives from the Greek plastikos meaning to mold or to shape; its use here is not connected with the synthetic polymer material known as plastic.

Techniques and procedures

Common techniques used in plastic surgery are:

• incision
• excision
• microsurgery
• chemosurgery
• electrosurgery
• laser surgery
• dermabrasion
• liposuction

In plastic surgery the transfer of skin tissue (skin grafting) is one of the most common procedures. (In traditional surgery a "graft" is a piece of living tissue, organ, etc., that is transplanted.

• Autografts: Skin grafts taken from the recipient. If absent or deficient of natural tissue, alternatives can be:

  • Cultured Sheets of epithelial cells in vitro.
  • Synthetic compounds (e.g., Integra--a 2 layered dermal substitute consisting superficially of silicone and deeply of bovine tendon collagen with glycosaminoglycans).
• Allografts: Skin grafts taken from a donor of the same species.
• Xenografts: Skin grafts taken from a donor of a different species.

Usually, good results are expected from plastic surgery that emphasizes:

• Careful planning of incisions so that they fall in the line of natural skin folds or lines.
• Appropriate choice of wound closure.
• Use of best available suture materials.
• Early removal of exposed sutures so that the wound is held closed by buried sutures.

Reconstructive plastic surgery

Reconstructive Plastic Surgery is performed to correct functional impairments caused by:

• burns
• traumatic injuries, such as facial bone fractures
• congenital abnormalities, such as cleft lip, or cleft palate
• developmental abnormalities
• infection or disease
• removal of cancers or tumours, such as a mastectomy for a breast cancer, a head and neck cancer and a abdominal invasion by a colon cancer

Reconstructive plastic surgery is usually performed to improve function, but it may be done to approximate a normal appearance. It is generally covered by insurance coverage but this may change according to the procedure required.

Common reconstructive surgical procedures are: breast reconstruction for women who have had a mastectomy, cleft lip and palate surgery, contracture surgery for burn survivors; one of the complication of severe burns.Curling's_ulcer]), creating a new outer ear when one is congenitally absent, and closing skin and mucosa defects after removal of tumors in the head and neck region.

Plastic surgeons developed the use of microsurgery to transfer tissue for coverage of a defect when no local tissue is available. tissue flaps comprised of skin, muscle, bone, fat or a combination, may be removed from the body, moved to another site on the body and reconnected to a blood supply by suturing arteries and veins as small as 1-2 mm in diameter.

Plastic surgery is a broad field, and may be subdivided further. Plastic surgery training and approval by the American Board of Plastic Surgery includes mastery of the following as well:

• Craniofacial surgery is generally divided into pediatric and adult craniofacial surgery. Pediatric craniofacial surgery mostly revolves around the treatment of congenital anomalies of the craniofacial skeleton and soft tissues, such as cleft lip and palate, craniosynostosis, and pediatric fractures. Because these children have multiple issues, the best approach to providing care to them is an interdisciplinary approach which also includes otolaryngologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists and geneticists. Adult craniofacial surgery deals mostly with fractures and secondary surgeries (such as orbital reconstruction). Both subspecialities usually require advanced training in craniofacial surgery. The craniofacial surgery field is also practiced by maxillofacial surgeons (see craniofacial surgery).
• Hand surgery is concerned with acute injuries and chronic diseases of the hand and wrist, correction of congenital malformations of the upper extremities, and peripheral nerve problems (such as brachial plexus injuries or carpal tunnel syndrome). Hand surgery is an important part of training in plastic surgery, as well as microsurgery, which is necessary to replant an amputated extremity. Most Hand surgeons will opt to complete a fellowship in Hand Surgery. The Hand surgery field is also practiced by orthopedic surgeons and general surgeons (see Hand surgeon).
• Microsurgery is generally concerned with the reconstruction of missing tissues by transferring a piece of tissue to the reconstruction site and reconnecting blood vessels. Popular subspecialty areas are breast reconstruction, head and neck reconstruction, hand surgery/replantation, and brachial plexus surgery.
• Burn surgery
• Aesthetic or cosmetic surgery is concerned with the correction of form and aging. Plastic surgeons usually excel in this field because of their thorough knowledge of anatomy and extensive experience with reconstruction and congenital anomalies correction. Popular operations include amongst other breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, face lift, liposuction and mastopexy.
• Pediatric plastic surgery. Children often face medical issues unique from the experiences of an adult patient. Many birth defects or syndromes present at birth are best treated in childhood, and pediatric plastic surgeons specialize in treating these conditions in children. Conditions commonly treated by pediatric plastic surgeons include craniofacial anomalies, cleft lip and palate and congenital hand deformities.
• Although not a traditionally recognized plastic surgery subspecialty, facial plastic and reconstructive surgery is concerned with the aesthetic and reconstructive problems in the head and neck region. Facial plastic surgeons have extensive experience in the head and neck surgery after completing a five year otolaryngology residency, and subsequently one-year facial plastic and reconstructive surgery fellowship. However, facial plastic surgeons are not plastic surgeons in that there training does not encompass 3-7 years of general surgery training and 2-4 years of comprehensive plastic surgery training. Facial plastic surgeons commonly performed procedure such as rhytidectomy, rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, brow lifting, and skin cancer reconstruction.

If you have decided to take up a facial plastic surgery, then it is important for you to know in depth about the facts of the surgery. You should know certain details like how long it will take for a plastic surgery? What are the side effects? Who should take up a plastic surgery? etc Read through.This article covers

• What is a face lift?
• Who require plastic surgery?
• For which areas facial surgeries are ideal?
• Who can consider plastic surgery?

Virtually all aspects of the human face could be enhanced with various cosmetic procedures. Facial plastic surgery can remove wrinkles, refine features, tone sagging skin, and even change the contour of the face. There are consequences of facial plastic surgery. Male candidates may literally find themselves shaving behind their ears, for instance. But if enhancing your appearance is of primary importance to you, there are a number of available procedures.

The most traditional procedure for the face, plastic surgery known as a "face lift," is also the most expensive and the most extensive. Over the course of several hours excess fat is removed from the face and neck, the muscles are tightened, and the skin re-draped. Extensive bruising, swelling, numbness and tenderness result and there is a chance of nerve damage and scarring. Recovery takes from ten days to two weeks, but the effects of this drastic procedure lasts from five to ten years.

In recent years these dramatic plastic surgery face lifts have been performed on those individuals who have in essence waited too late. These patients have deep furrows, creases and lines as well as sagging, excess skin around the jowl and down into the neck. Most candidates are fifty years of age or more. Had they considered cosmetic procedures in their thirties or forties, much less radical options would have been available to them.

Facial implants have become increasingly popular. The procedure takes thirty minutes to two hours and has the effect of shaping or balancing the face by building up or accenting a previously recessive feature. Implants may go along the cheekbones, at the point of the chin, or along the line of the jaw. Patients normally return to work in a week and their appearance is completely normal within two weeks to a month.

By the same token so-called "nose jobs" have long been a staple of facial plastic surgery. In this procedure, known as rhinoplasty, the nose is reshaped usually by narrowing the overall profile or altering the shape of the tip. Rhinoplasty takes approximately an hour to two hours and involves some initial swelling and discomfort. The total recovery time is one to two weeks and the effect is permanent.

For the upper facial area the most radical procedure would be a forehead lift which minimizes creases and a drooping or hooded effect around the eyebrows and eyes. Also a one to two hour procedure, forehead lifts involve swelling, numbness, headaches, bruises, and carry the risk of nerve damage. The recovery time is seven to ten days with the effect lasting five to ten years.

Finally, the eyelids may be reshaped via blepharoplasty which corrects drooping upper lids or puffy bags under the eyes. Requiring two to three hours, the procedure causes swelling, bruises, and light sensitivity with a potential for dry eyes and blurred or double vision. Patients need two to three days to be able to see well enough to read and can return to work in a week to ten days. The effect of this procedure should last several years.

In general anyone who is in good health can consider any of these facial procedures although surgeons will recommend that you don't wait too long. With the continued refinement of the less radical procedures than the old traditional face lift, surgeons see greater success on

younger patients who requires less work. A full medical work up will be required before any procedure that involves cutting and the administration of either a local or general anesthetic.

How Much does it Cost?

In general health insurance policies do not cover elective plastic surgeries and none of the procedures mentioned are inexpensive. Expect to pay upwards to $6,000 for a face lift, approximately $3,000 for cheek implants, $4,000 for a "nose job," $3,000 for a forehead lift, and approximately $2,700 for work to the eyes. (These fees are reflective of the bill presented by the surgeon. There may be additional fees for facility usage, the services of an anesthesiologist, and items like post-surgical medications or other recovery items.)

Any Tips about Recovery

In the process of recovery you can expect to be uncomfortable and most likely unsightly from any of these procedures. Most if not all will include bruising and swelling. Talk to your physician at length about appropriate post-surgical measures to increase your comfort. These may include applications of hot or cold packs, the use of prescribed or recommended creams, gentle massage, bed rest, and staying out of the sun.

Opting for a cosmetic procedure is a major decision and should not be made lightly. By having the procedure before the effects of aging have become too severe the extent of necessary work can be minimized and with it the degree of your discomfort and expense. In facial plastic surgery, male and female candidates will experience different criteria for any given procedure and should fully explore exactly what facial plastic surgery will mean for them and when is their optimum time to choose to have the work done.