What comes to mind when you hear the term plastic surgery? Is it about a movie celebrity who is trying to fight the signs of aging? Does it concern people who want to reduce their stomachs or enhance their breasts, since these are easily done on television?
Though these are the usual thoughts on plastic surgery, what do you think about a 4-year old whose chin was reconstructed after being bitten by a dog? How about a woman whose forehead birthmark has been lightened using a laser?
About Plastic Surgery
“Plastic” in the term “plastic surgery” does not necessarily mean that patients who undergo this procedure will have a fake-stuffed face as a result. The name is not derived from an artificial synthetic substance but from “plastikos”, a Greek word, which means to mold or form (that also gives plastic its name).
Plastic surgery is a particular type of surgery that may entail a person’s physical appearance, plus ability to function. Plastic surgeons make every effort to improve both the appearance and self-image of their patients by means of cosmetic and reconstructive procedures.
Reconstructive surgery corrects facial or body defects, including physical birth defects such as cleft palates and lips, ear abnormalities, traumatic injuries from burns or dog bites, and after effects of disease treatment like for example reconstructing a woman’s breast following breast cancer surgery.
Cosmetic or aesthetic procedures enhance a particular part of the body that the patient is not contented with. Some of the common cosmetic procedures are enlarging the breast size (augmentation mammoplasty) and reducing the breast size (reduction mammoplasty), reconstructing the nose (rhinoplasty) and taking out pockets of fat from some parts of the body (liposuction). There are a number of cosmetic procedures that do not even seem surgical as the way people think of them to be. Examples of two such treatments are using lasers to get rid of unwanted hair or sanding skin to heal severe scarring.
Is Plastic Surgery Right for You?
Reconstructive surgery can repair considerable defects/problems. Is it okay to undergo cosmetic surgery to improve your looks? Is this suitable for teens? Just like everything else, surgery has its right and wrong reasons.
Cosmetic surgery is not likely to improve your life. A lot of board-certified plastic surgeons interview teens who want to have plastic surgery to know if surgery is good for them. Doctors want to be sure that teens are emotionally mature to cope with the surgery and have the right reasons for doing it.
Most plastic surgery procedures are plain and simple surgery. They have something to do with anesthesia, healing plus a couple of serious risks. Doctors performing such procedures want to make sure that their patients can understand and handle the stress involved in surgery.
There are doctors that are not willing to perform certain procedures on teens up to the time they have stopped growing. When it comes to rhinoplasty, this means that girls have to be 15 or 16 and for guys, one year older.
Girls who like to increase their breast size to improver their looks must be 18 or older since saline implants are only allowed for women of this age. However, there are some cases when there is a significant size difference between the breasts or else, one breast did not develop and this can be remedied by a plastic surgeon.
