Cosmetic Surgery Nowadays Overview

Cosmetic Surgery Have you ever thought about how much cosmetic surgery has progressed and all the different types of surgeries? Cosmetic surgery is the practice of reshaping body tissues. It is also known as plastic surgery. Plastic is derived from the Greek word Plastikos meaning “to mold. ” Plastic surgery dates all the way back 3000 years ago, to the Ancient Egyptians, Indians, and Greeks. We may not recognize that people back then used a form of plastic surgery, but they did.

Centuries ago tribes used plastics surgery methods by disking their lips, stretching their earlobes, binding their feet, filing their teeth, and tattooing and scaring their skin. (Random History) Those were plastic surgery procedures back than. Now there is liposuction, nose jobs, eyelid surgery, tummy tucks, breast augmentation and reductions, Botox, microdermabrasion, collagen injections, laser hair removal, and chemical pads. Plastic surgery has advanced over several thousands of years and will continue. The history of plastic surgery goes back to ancient Egypt (1279-1212 BC).

The Egyptians did not practice surgeries on the living, but they did practice on the dead. The surgeries they did are not what we think of when we hear the word cosmetic surgery, but the way they prepared the dead were part of the principles of cosmetic surgery today. Egyptians called it mummification. Pharaohs were mummified using special techniques that would enhance the features that were prominent to them. One step with mummification was to take the deceased to the “per nefer,” otherwise known as the House of Beauty, and add “cosmetics” to give the body a life-like appearance.

The Egyptians used materials that we do not think of using. For example, Ramesses II had a small piece of bone and several seeds placed in his nose to hold the shape. His nose was surgically altered to make sure it looked be recognizable in the afterlife. Another example is the mummy of Queen Nunjmet. She had bandages stuck in her cheek and belly. (Random History) This represents how surgeons now will implant silicone into the body of a person. It is the same idea. Even though there are only records of Egyptians practicing on the dead, they had the skills and techniques to perform surgeries on the living as well. Jen) Ancient India (approximately 300 BC) is the birthplace of plastic surgery. Ancient India is the time that there were records of reconstructive surgery performed on the living. Punishment for a crime may have been cutting off ones nose if guilty. (Jen) This form of punishment led to the birth of rhinoplasty. Rhinoplasty is commonly known as a nose-job. During this era the method Rhinoplasty was also described as the “attached flap,” or what we know today as the skin graft. A skin graft is where the epidermis is removed from one part of the body and used on another.

Surgeons reconstructed the nose by cutting skin from either the cheek or forehead. Than that piece of skin, skin side out, was twisted over a leaf of the right size. After that the skin was sewed into place, and in order to keep the nostrils open during the healing process two polished wooden tubes were put in them. (Random History) During this time there was no anesthesia so the pain of this procedure was brutal and the risk of infections was high. Not only were there a large number of nose jobs in India, but the surgeons also worked on ears.

The Indians were fashionable people and as a result of this both adults and children wore earrings. These earrings were constructed out of heavy materials that caused the earlobe to often spilt open. To repair the earlobe the doctors used a skin graft from the cheek. Surgery of the ear is known as Otoplasty. Not only did surgeons develop procedures for the nose and ears, they also did for lips too. The main reason why so many people had their nose, ears, and lips cut was because that is how people were punished for criminal, religious, and military crimes.

Ancient India is where plastic surgery official became introduced. There are hundreds of surgeries performed on people daily. Surgeries are performed on every part of the body, from head to toe. There are well over 100 different surgeries done. Over 50 of those surgeries are done on the face. A few of the popular face surgeries are botox, rhytidectomy, and lip augmentation. A few of other surgeries done on the rest of the body are liposuction, breast surgery, and abdominoplasty. How Many Types) Botox is a nonsurgical cosmetic procedure that was introduced in the late 1980’s and it is one of the top five procedures. This procedure is used to help decrease glabellar lines. Glabellar lines are vertical lines on the face between the eye brows and when someone frowns. Botox is a shot the essentially paralyzes the muscles that produce lines. This procedure can last anywhere between a few minutes to 30 minutes. Numbing cream or anesthesia is usually used with botox, but the needles are so small that there is hardly any pain at all. Botox can ause headaches, nausea, flu-like symptoms, and redness around injection site. Botox has become very popular within the last 10 years. Rhytidectomy is known as a face lift. (Village pointe) Face lift is a surgical procedure that helps improve appearance of the face. Face lift is a common procedure. There are positive and negative side effects of getting a face lift. The positives are that a face lift can correct sagging skin, tighten facial muscles, and improve your facial contour. The negative side effects are that it can cause nerve damage, visible scarring, swelling, bruising, and pain.

There are many different types of face lifts that can be done, such as mini face lift, lower face lift, mid face lift, etc. It just depends on the person getting the surgery what area they want to have improved. Lip augmentation is to give fuller lips. Hylauronic acid is what is usually injected into the lip. This acid is a natural substance found in the body and it improves the lips volume, structure, and shape. The effects of a lip augmentation last around six months, so in order to keep the volume wanted; treatments are needed about every six months.

Fat injections used to be used on the lips to make them fuller, but the results vary and the side effects are at a greater risk so that method is not used as much. (Lip augmentation) Liposuction is a simple surgical procedure that removes excess fat between the skin and muscle. A small stainless steel tube is attached to a suction pump, than the tube is inserted into fat through small incisions made on the skin. There are many different techniques that are used to perform liposuction. A common technique of liposuction is laser liposuction. Laser and Ultrasound) Laser liposuction is used to target specific body parts and it is designed to only target fat cells, so it protects the muscle and nerve tissues. Laser liposuction causes less pain, faster healing, and a smaller amount of bruising after. (Village pointe) There are three different types of breast surgery that are common. They are breast augmentations, reduction mammoplasty, and mastopexy. Breast augmentation is better known as breast implant. (What is Breast Augmentation? Reduction mammoplasty also known as breast reduction is where skin and glandular tissue is removed to reduce the breast size. Mastopexy is a breast lift. It is where the breasts are lifted or reshaped to make them less saggy. (Village Pointe) Cosmetic surgery has become more advanced within the last couple thousand years. The world of cosmetic surgery grew from the narrow field of rhinoplasty to over a 150 different types of surgeries. As we become more advanced in the cosmetic field, new technology makes the procedures faster and the risk factors involved are not as high.