The medical procedures which we term plastic (or cosmetic) surgery are those whose purpose is to alter a person's appearance. Various procedures fall into this category, including minor cosmetic work as well as the re-shaping of the patient's skin, fat, muscle, cartilage and bone. Below is some information about the more common procedures in plastic surgery, and these procedures have been divided into ones carried out on the face, and ones on the body.



Plastic Surgery on the Face

Common plastic surgery which people have performed on the face includes the following procedures:

• Chemical peels, which are designed to improve the skin's appearance, and can correct mild skin damage, light scars or freckles, enlarged pores, hyper-pigmentation and fine lines. The chemical solution is often applied to the whole face, or sometimes just to the relevant area of the face, and the surface layer of (often dead) skin is then peeled away. This often produces a stinging sensation, and the patient should not allow the skin to be exposed directly to the sun for the following two weeks. Benefits are visible for a number of months afterwards, and the chemicals used can also have the effect of stimulating new cell growth.

• Face lift (rhytidectomy), which is intended to treat looseness or sagging of the skin of the face. The surgeon makes incisions above the hairline at the temples, and down along natural crease lines so that the resulting scars are hidden. He or she then separates the skin and muscle from the deeper tissues of the face, then removes excess skin and re-shapes the facial tissues, suturing or stapling the skin back into place afterwards. Benefits are noticeable for ten or more years, and the surgery takes around two hours.

• Rhinoplasty, which is re-shaping the nose either for costmetic reasons or to correct defects. May be carried out under either general or local anesthetic, and takes around three hours. The time varies depending on how much work needs to be done to achieve the desired shape, and recovery takes around one week.

Plastic Surgery on the Body

Common plastic surgery on the body includes the following procedures:

• Breast implants, which are designed to re-shape as well as re-size the breasts, and hence improve their appearance. The implants are usually made of silicon and are placed above the breast muscle or behind breast tissue, and vary in size according to the patient's requirements (from 120 to 850 ml in volume).

• Liposuction, which removes fat from beneath the skin. The fat is sucked out using a hollow needle, or cannula, which has an attached tube. This surgery usually produces a permanent result.

• Tummy tuck or abdominoplasty, which removes fat and excess skin from the abdominal region as well as tightening the muscles. This is major surgery and requires around three weeks to recover.

Modern technological innovation means that people can now choose to alter their bodily structure and facial features. We do need to realize that there are limits, however, and not get hooked on the idea of plastic surgery. Many people go too far, opting for one surgical procedure after another, changing every single part of their body until they don't look like themselves any more. Take the example of Michael Jackson, who no longer looks anything like he used to. Think very carefully before you go ahead with plastic surgery, and consider counseling as well as other options first. Nobody really wants to end up looking like they are made of plastic, and completely unrecognizable to anybody who knows them!