plastic and cosmetic surgery

Plastic and cosmetic surgery refers to a variety of operations performed in order to repair or restore body parts to look normal, or to change a body part to look better. These types of surgery are highly specialised. Plastic and cosmetic surgery is usually performed to treat birth defects and to remove skin blemishes. Reconstructive plastic surgery is the oldest form of this type of medical procedure, having developed out of the need to treat wounded soldiers in wartime. Plastic and cosmetic surgery includes a number of different processes that usually involve skin. Operations to remove excess fat from the abdomen ("tummy tucks"), dermabrasion to remove acne scars or tattoos, and reshaping the cartilage in children's ears (otoplasty) are common applications of plastic surgery. Most cosmetic surgery is done on the face. It is intended either to correct disfigurement or to enhance the patient's features; the most common being to correct a cleft lip or palate in children. In adults, the most common procedures are remodelling of the nose (rhinoplasty), removal of baggy skin around the eyelids (blepharoplasty), facelifts (rhytidectomy), or changing the size of the breasts (mammoplasty). Although many people still think of plastic and cosmetic surgery as only for women, growing numbers of men are choosing to have facelifts and eyelid surgery, as well as hair transplants. The risks associated with these processes include the postoperative complications that can occur with any surgical operation under anaesthesia. These complications include wound infection, internal bleeding, pneumonia, and reactions to the anaesthesia. In addition to these general risks, further dangers from plastic and cosmetic surgery include: formation of undesirable scar tissue; persistent pain, redness, or swelling in the area of the surgery; rejection of skin grafts or tissue transplants and loss of normal feeling or function in the area of the operation (for example, it is not unusual for women who have had mammoplasties to lose sensation in their nipples).