Cosmetic surgery

1. What is plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery and surgery in general?

A medical procedure is something that is performed on the human body to make someone healthier, physically or mentally. When the medical procedure involves a medical operation, it’s called surgery. A medical operation is always done with a scalpel or other instruments and involves the opening of a body part and excess blood flow.

There are different types of surgery, including plastic surgery.

Plastic surgery is the process of reconstructing or repairing parts of the body, either to treat an injury or for cosmetic reasons. The second one is called cosmetic surgery or aesthetic surgery. However, the term ‘plastic surgery’ is often confused with ‘cosmetic surgery’ and is used instead.

The term ‘plastic’ in plastic surgery isn't taken from the synthetic material, but from the Greek word ‘plastikos’, which means to mold. This also gives the substance plastic its name.

In this project we will be mainly focusing on cosmetic surgery.

2. What types of cosmetic surgery exist?

There are a lot of different types of cosmetic surgery, over the whole body: face, hair, boobs, ears and much more:

Face:

Eyes:

Eyelid surgery, also known as blepharoplasty, reshapes the upper or lower eyelids.

Brow lift, also known as browplasty, is a type of face lift that smooths forehead skin and elevates eyebrows.

Nose:

Nose job, also known as rhinoplasty, reshapes the nose.

Cheeks:

Cheek lift, also known as midface lift, is a type of facelift that tightens the cheeks.
Cheek implants, also known as cheek augmentation,are implants to the cheek.

Lips:

Lip enhancement improves the fullness of the lips by enlarging them.
Cheiloplasty is the surgical reconstruction of the lip.

Jawbone and chin:

Jaw reduction reduces the mandible angle to smooth out an angular jaw and creates a smart jaw.
Orthognathic surgery changes the upper and lower jawbone to correct jaw alignment problems and tooth alignment.
Genioplasty enlarges the chin with an implant, usually silicone or with the bones of an individual.

Neck:

Neck lift tightens the loose tissues in the neck.

Ears:

Ear surgery, also known as otoplasty or ear pinning reshapes the ear, usually done by pinning the ear closer to the head.

Whole face:

Zygoma reduction plasty reduces facial width by performing osteotomy and removing a part of the cheek bone and arch.
Laser Skin Rejuvenation, also known as laser resurfacing, reduces the depth in the pores of the face.
Rhytidectomy, also known as a face lift, removes wrinkles and signs of aging from the face.

Body:

Breasts:

This is done with mammoplasty, there are three different types:

Breast augmentation, also known as a boobjob or breast implant, is the enlargement of the breasts with saline, fat transplantation or silicone gel prosthetics.
Reduction mammoplasty, also known as breast reduction, is the removal of skin and glandular tissue, which is also done to reduce back and shoulder pain for women and men with gigantomastia.
Mastopexy, also known as breast lift, lifts or reshapes breasts to make them less saggy, often after weight loss.

Genetalia:

Phalloplasty, also known as penile surgery, is the (re)construction of a penis or, sometimes, artificial modification of the penis through surgery, often for cosmetic purposes.
Labiaplasty: surgical reduction and reshaping of the labia.

Butt:

Buttock augmentation, also known as butt implant, is the enhancement of the buttocks using silicone implants or fat transplantation (Brazilian butt lift) or the fat is transferred from other areas of the body.
Buttock lift is the lifting and tightening of the buttocks by cutting out excess skin.

Tummy:

Abdominoplasty, also known as tummy tuck, is the firming and reshaping of the tummy.

Arms:

Brachioplasty, also known as arm lift, reduces excess fat and skin between the underarm and elbow.

Fat:

Liposuction, also known as suction lipectomy, is the removal of fat deposits by the suction technique or ultrasonic energy.

You also have cosmetic procedures; this doesn’t involve cutting. Examples are:

Cryolipolysis: a medical device used to destroy fat cells.
Fillers injections: fat, collagen and other tissue filler injections, such as hyaluronic acid.

2. The history of cosmetic surgery.

In general, cosmetic surgery seems like a modern phenomenon, but it has a way longer history. One of the first recorded surgeries was in the 16^th century in Europe. This was mostly for facial injuries, but because it was very risky and painful, it was only used for serious injuries.

In the 16^th century there was a surgery where a part of the skin from the forehead or arm would be cut, folded down and stitched to make a new nose.

But cosmetic surgery was only for the desperate people until the surgeries were less painful and less life-threatening.

In 1846, the first ‘painless’ surgery came out, performed by the dentist William Morton. He gave ether to the patient: ether is a clear, flammable liquid that was also inhaled before undergoing surgery. However, he used imprecise methods, that could cause an overdose and kill the patients.

In 1860, more sterile surgery model from the English doctor Joseph Lister was used. France, Germany, Austria and Italy used this method as well. The change of infections and death decreased.

Around 1880, anesthesia was refined even further and for healthy people that felt unattractive surgery became a relatively safe, painless process.

Finally, in 1990, the Derma Featural Company was able to advertise its “treatments” for poorly shaped noses, protruding ears and wrinkles in the English magazine ‘World of Dress’.

That sounds good and all, but the methods were less pretty. A report of 7 years late told these facts: They still used skin from the arm for rhinoplasties. The non-surgical nose jobs were even worse: hot, liquid wax was injected to the nose and would be molded into the preferred shape. Ouch!

The surgery wasn’t promoted in many magazines: non-surgical ways were more popular, like chin straps, forehead straps, bust reducers and hip and stomach reducers.

Cosmetic surgery wasn’t like it is now since the late 90^th century.

3. What can go wrong with plastic surgery?

Usually there’s a successful result after plastic surgery, but things can also go wrong. Maybe you picture the horrifying pictures of celebrities with gigantic lips, weird cheekbones or misshaped noses, but there’s much more:

Hematoma. Hematoma is a pocket of blood that looks like a large, painful bruise. This can occur by almost all surgeries in an average of 1 percent
Resoma. Resoma occurs when sterile body fluid or serum collects below the surface of the skin, resulting in swelling and sometimes pain. This can occur by almost all surgeries but is most common after a tummy tuck (15-30 percent).
Blood loss. Blood loss is expected with any surgery, but uncontrolled blood loss (both during the surgery and after) can cause a drop in blood pressure, with a possible deadly
Infection. Even though the care recommended after the surgery often reduces the risk of infection, it’s still one of the most common complications in plastic surgery.
Nerve damage. Nerve damage can occur in a lot of different surgeries, permanent or temporary. This includes numbness and tingling.
Deep vein thrombosis (DVP) and pulmonary embolism (PE): DVP is a condition where blood clots form in deep veins, usually in the leg. When these clots break down and go into the lungs, it’s known as PE. Both can be deadly. These complications are uncommon, affecting 09 percent of the patients having plastic surgery and 1 percent of the patients having abdominoplasty.
Organ damage. Organ damage can be caused by liposuction and repairing these injuries can require extra
Scarring. Surgery usually results in some scarring. Since cosmetic surgery is meant to make you look better, scaring can be troubling.
Complications of the anesthesia. The anesthesia is used to let the patient undergo the surgery without being conscious or feeling However, anesthesia can also cause lung infections, stroke, heart attacks, shivering, nausea, vomiting, waking up confused & disoriented and even death.
These are all physically, but of course you can also have a complication mentally. It’s called general appearance dissatisfaction. Most people are satisfied with the results, but someone undergoing breast surgery may experience contouring or asymmetry problems, and those undergoing facial surgeries could simply not like the result.

However, this doesn’t mean it’s a reason to not get plastic surgery. According to a 2018 review of over 25,000 cases, complications occur in fewer than 1 percent of outpatient surgeries.
Certain people are more common to have complications, including older adults and people who are obese.

4. My opinion about cosmetic surgery.

Last but not least, my opinion about cosmetic surgery.
I think that if you aren’t satisfied with a body part of you and it impacts your view on yourself or even your life, and it is possible to change it, you should do it.
If you feel more confident and more satisfied with your body after undergoing plastic surgery, I think it’s completely fine.
But there’s somewhere that I draw a line: you shouldn’t change yourself for others and you shouldn’t be too easy with it.
There are some celebrities that had so many surgeries, they’re looking unnatural and trying to fit in unrealistic beauty standards. When you are a celebrity, you shouldn’t support unrealistic beauty standards because you are an influence on so many viewers, young and old.

5. Sources

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/surgery
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/incision
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/manipulation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instruments_used_in_general_surgery
https://woundcare.euroscicon.com/events-list/plastic-surgery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_surgery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_procedure
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surgery
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/the-ugly-history-of-cosmetic-surgery-a7072216.html
https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/ether
https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/plastic-surgery.html
https://mijn.bsl.nl/18-postoperatieve-zorg/7107762
https://www.healthline.com/health/most-common-plastic-surgery-complications#blood-loss

Written in May 2019