Plastic surgery can alter or restore a person’s appearance. It can also help certain parts of the body to function better. We’ve all seen accidents and fires—either in person or on the news—and can only imagine what the victims of such traumatic events must go through afterward. For these people, plastic surgery can mean the difference between remaining scarred for life and having a chance at a new beginning.
Surgery that is carried out for the purpose of correcting an abnormal condition due to the effects of injury, disease, or a birth defect is known as reconstructive surgery. Conditions commonly treated by this type of surgery include cleft palates, tumours, burned or cancerous tissue, and facial fractures.
Plastic surgery performed for purely aesthetic reasons is called cosmetic surgery. These procedures alter tissue that is considered normal, solely for the purpose of improving its appearance. Examples of common cosmetic procedures include facelifts, “nose jobs,” and “tummy tucks.”
Plastic surgeons may specialize in reconstructive or cosmetic surgery, or they may focus on a single area, such as the hand, nose, or stomach. Others deal with a wide variety of patients and procedures.
Surgeons work with virtually every type of tissue in the human body—skin, muscle, fat, and nerve. For example, they can perform skin grafts to replace cancer-damaged tissue on the nose with healthy tissue from the neck or forehead. They also perform liposuction, which involves removing fat from areas of the body such as the neck, chin, abdomen, hips, and thighs.
New technology is always changing the way surgeons perform their jobs. Laser surgery is widely used to correct wrinkles, pigmentation changes, scars, and sun damage. This surgery is bloodless and leads to minimal scarring.
Another fairly recent technological advance is endoscopic surgery, in which a tube fitted with a light and a tiny camera is inserted into the patient through a very small incision. This allows the surgeon to view the procedure through a monitor as the surgery is controlled from outside. This means that no large incision is necessary, and bleeding, bruising, and nerve damage are minimized. Endoscopic procedures are used in tummy tucks, forehead lifts, and certain types of implants.
NOC Code: 3111