Plastic Surgery - Good or Bad

I have been recieving many mails regarding information about plastic surgery.So i thought of giving a brief description about this treatment procedure and to create an awareness among my readers....

“Plastic” is derived from the Greek plasikos, meaning “to mold.” The term “surgery” is derived from the Greek kheirourgos, from kheir - “hand” + ergon - “work.”
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. While famous for aesthetic surgery, plastic surgery also includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns. The word "plastic" derives from the Greek plastikos meaning to mould or to shape; its use here is not connected with the synthetic polymer material known as plastic.

History of Plastic surgery
The first recorded “nose job” is found in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts (600 B.C.).c Physicians would reconstruct noses by cutting skin from either the cheek or forehead, twisting the skin side out over a leaf of the appropriate size, and sewing the skin into place. Two polished wooden tubes would be inserted into the nostrils to keep the air passage open during healing
By the first century B.C., Romans were practicing various forms of plastic surgery to repair noses, eyes, lips, and teeth. Roman physician Cornelius Celsus (c. 25 B.C.-A.D. 50) also describes procedures such as circumcision reversal and even breast reduction in men.d
A popular procedure in ancient Rome was scar removal, particularly scars on the back which were marks of shame because they suggested a man had turned his back in battle—or worse, he had been whipped like a slave. Foreigners would also have plastic surgery to fit better into Roman society.
During the Middle Ages, plastic surgery was typically deemed pagan and sinful because the spilling of blood by a surgeon and the power the surgeon had over the body were akin to magic.d
When plastic surgery became popular during the Renaissance, surgeons took skin grafts from various donors, such as a neighbor’s pig, but were confused when the new nose would shrivel up and fall off. They concluded the flesh was “sympathetic,” meaning that the graft died when its original owner died.d
Many plastic surgeries in the early Renaissance were performed in barber shops.d
Italian Gaspare Tagliacozzi (1546-1599) is widely considered the “father of modern plastic surgery.” His text book De curtorum chirugiau noted the need for plastic surgery due to duels and street fights, as well as a pervasive outbreak of syphilis which destroyed the nose. His “virtual” nose, however, could fall off if the user blew too hard, and young women with reconstructed noses were hardly objects of desire.d
Tagliacozzi was an atypical plastic surgeon during the Renaissance because he did not view illness, such as the syphilitic nose, as divine punishment. Instead he used the vocabulary of humanists such as Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola (1463-94) to justify his surgical innovations as autonomous self-remaking. Tagliacozzi’s work disappeared mainly as a result of the Counterreformation.
In 1794, British surgeons witnessed an Indian brick layer repair the nose of a British cattle driver who had his nose and hand cut off while a prisoner of the sultan. British surgeons imported the procedure back to northern Europe where interest rapidly grew.d
Karl Ferdinand Graefe (1787-1840) coined the term “plastic surgery” in his 1818 text Rhinoplastik. He also attempted to remove the moral stigma associated with nose reconstruction by giving the procedure a classical name—rhinoplasty—to make it more similar to other surgical procedures.d
Surgeons who served in WWI established the American Association of Plastic Surgery in 1931 and helped curtail unregulated plastic surgery. They are the largest plastic surgery specialty organization in the world.
WWII played a significant role in advancing plastic surgery techniques.WWII ushered in plastic surgery techniques that included rebuilding entire limbs, extensive skin grafts, microsurgery, antibodies, and increased knowledge about tissue healthd
Silicone breast implants grew in popularity in the 1960s. Show girls would inject their breasts with liquid silicone, a substance initially used in Japan in WWI to plump out legs withered by polio. Unfortunately, they could suffer dangerous side effects, such as amputation of the breast due to infection and guaranteed “pendulous” breasts by the time they reached 40.
In Nazi Germany, some forms of reconstructive surgery were mandated to enable the “too ugly” solder to become a “real” soldier. Benito Mussolini’s (1880-1945) Italy also used plastic surgery to increase the performance of military officers, such as correcting drooping eyelids.
The first modern breast augmentation took place on November 24, 1893, in Heidelberg, Germany, by Vincent Czerny. His patient was a 41-year-old singer who had a growth in her breast removed. Luckily, the patient had a growth (lipoma) on her back, which was harvested and transplanted to her breast. She was discharged on December 20, 1893.
In 1998, Bill Clinton signed a bill which required insurance companies to cover the cost of reconstructive breast surgery for women who had undergone a mastectomy.
In 2007, there were more than 11.5 million plastic surgery procedures performed, an increase of 50% from 2000. The overall number of plastic surgery procedures has increased 457% since the collection of statistics first began.
The most popular performed procedure is Botox, which is a protein derived from the botulism toxin. It is injected into the skin to paralyze facial muscles, giving the recipient a smooth facial appearance. The effects of the procedure typically wear off after three to six months.
The most popular surgery for men and women combined in 2007 was liposuction. The most popular surgery for women alone was breast augmentation, with liposuction coming in second.
Women constituted 91% of plastic surgery patients in 2007, though the number of men receiving plastic surgery increased 17% from 2006.

Americans spent $13.2 billion on plastic surgery in 2006.A famous Los Angeles plastic surgeon has done thousands of plastic surgeries .Two-thirds of plastic surgery patients are repeat patients, and more than five million Americans may be addicted to plastic surgery. One example of such addiction, 48-year-old Hang Mioku was left disfigured after she injected her own face with cooking oil.

Plastic surgery in the modern era

Modern plastic surgeons are exploring the potential of cloning technology as a method of body rejuvenation and are looking into the secrets of the growth within the womb where scarless growth and healing take place.

Plastic surgery can also be useful in Body dysmorphic disorder .Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a serious illness when a person is preoccupied with minor or imaginary physical flaws, usually of the skin, hair, and nose. A person with BDD tends to have cosmetic surgery, and even if the surgeries are successful, does not think they are and is unhappy with the outcomes.

Techniques and procedures
In plastic surgery, the transfer of skin tissue (skin grafting) is a very common procedure. Skin grafts can be taken from the recipient or donors:
Autografts are taken from the recipient. If absent or deficient of natural tissue, alternatives can be cultured sheets of epithelial cells in vitro or synthetic compounds, such as integra, which consists of silicone and bovine tendon collagen with glycosaminoglycans.
Allografts are taken from a donor of the same species.
Xenografts are 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, and early removal of exposed sutures so that the wound is held closed by buried sutures.
Bad Points in Plastic surgery
1.Plastic surgery is expensive. In the US, a facelift costs from $6,000 to $15,000.
2.Any surgery is potentially dangerous, including plastic surgery. Complications are rare but they do occur, ranging from scarring to fatalities. Plastic surgery may be particularly risky if you have certain health conditions (e.g. diabetes).
3.Everyone is different. Some people do much better than others, even when treated by the same plastic surgeon.
4.It may take several weeks or months before your face fully recovers from plastic surgery.
5.Plastic surgery might adversely affect the physiology of your skin and underlying tissues, speeding up the aging process.

If you decide to undergo plastic surgery, keep in mind the following.
With plastic surgery, more is not necessarily better. For instance, too tight or too frequent facelifts may create a distorted, unnatural look. The result may be worse than having no plastic surgery at all.
Find a board certified surgeon with a vast experience in the plastic surgery. Search thoroughly, compare different plastic surgeons, talk to their former patients.
It is somewhat more risky to have plastic surgery in a surgeon's office than in a hospital. If you are having an in-office plastic surgery, make sure that the facility is accredited by AAAASF (The American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities).
Plastic surgery does not slow down the aging of the skin but may actually accelerate it. Therefore, plastic surgery is not a substitute for skin rejuvenation measures. Actually, after a plastic surgery you should be even more diligent in preserving your skin's youth.
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Before going for plastic surgery, give a few month try to topical skin rejuvenation treatments . The results may be dramatic enough to change your mind.

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