Aesthetic Surgery

The term "aesthetic surgery" refers to surgery that is designed to make cosmetic, or appearance better. Aesthetic or cosmetic surgery is a very popular form of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Plastic reconstructive and aesthetic surgery is recognized as the surgical subspecialty dedicated to the surgical repair of defects of form or function and this includes aesthetic surgery, as well as reconstructive surgery.

The most prevalent aesthetic procedures are listed below. Most of these types of cosmetic surgery are more commonly known by their "common names":

• Rhinoplasty (or "nose job"): Simply this procedure involves reshaping of the nose. This operation reshapes the nose by reducing or increasing its size, removing nasal hump, changing shape of tip or bridge, narrowing span of nostrils, or changing angle between nose and upper lip. This operation may also relieve some breathing problems.

• Breast augmentation (or "breast enlargement"): This procedure enhances the size of breasts using either saline or silicone gel filled implants.

• Breast reduction: This operation involves removal of skin and glandular tissue of the breast. This procedure is indicated to reduce back and shoulder pain or for psychological benefit in women with macromastia. Patients who undergo breast reduction surgery frequently are looking for relief from physical symptoms caused by the excessive weight of large breasts. Breast reduction surgery usually can solve these problems as well as improve the size and shape of breasts. Following breast reduction, breasts will be more proportional to the rest the body, and clothes will fit better.

• Mastopexy (or "breast lift"): This procedure raises and reshapes sagging breasts by removing excess skin and repositioning remaining tissue and nipples. Thus this operation involves removal of breast skin as opposed to glandular tissue.

• Gynecomastia (or "male breast reduction"): This procedure reduces enlarged, female-like breast in men using liposuction and/or cutting out excess glandular tissue.

• Abdominoplasty (or "tummy tuck"): This operation involves reshaping (flattening) and firming of the abdomen by removing excess fat and skin and tightening muscles of anterior abdominal wall.

• Blepharoplasty (or "eyelid surgery"): This operation involves reshaping of the eyelids. This procedure corrects drooping upper eyelids and puffy bags below the eyes by removing excess fat, skin, and muscle.

• Otoplasty (or "ear surgery"): This procedure consists of reshaping of the ear. This operation sets prominent ears back closer to the head, or reduces the size of large ears. This procedure is most often done on children between the ages of 4 and 14 years.

•  Rhytidectomy (or "face lift"): This procedure involves removal of wrinkles and signs of aging from the face. This operation improves sagging facial skin, jowls, and loose neck skin by removing excess skin, fat, tightening muscles, and redraping skin. This operation is most often done on men and women over the age of 40. 

• Suction-Assisted Lipectomy (or "liposuction"): This procedure involves removal of exercise-resistant fat deposits with a tube and vacuum device from the body to improve body shape. This operation can be performed using the tumescent technique, in which targeted fat cells are infused with saline containing a local anesthetic before liposuction to reduce post-operative bruising and swelling. Common locations for liposuction consists of chin, cheeks, neck, upper arms, above breasts, abdomen, buttocks, hips, thighs, knees, calves, and ankles. For larger volumes of fat removal or for fibrous body areas, ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty (UAL) may be used. UAL is a new liposuction technique in which an ultrasound probe is inserted beneath the skin to "liquify" the fat before it is suctioned. 

• Hair restoration surgery: This procedure fills in balding areas with patient's own hair using a variety of techniques including scalp reduction, tissue expansion, strip grafts, scalp flaps, or clusters of punch grafts (plugs, miniplugs and microplugs). This procedure works best on men with male pattern baldness after hair loss has stopped.

• Dermabrasion: This procedure involves mechanical scraping of the top layers of skin using a high-speed rotary wheel. This procedure softens sharp edges of surface irregularities, including acne and other scars and fine wrinkles, especially around the mouth.