History of plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a combination of surgical procedure and an art form that strives to improve the looks of an individual. While many believe that the term 'plastic' refers to the appearance of the individual undergoing the surgery changing to look more fake and plastic, it's not the case. The name actually comes from a Greek In this article, we'll trace the beginnings of plastic surgery so that you can understand exactly how far that we have come in cosmetic surgical procedures.
One of the earliest examples of plastic surgery that you can see in human history is the use of skin grafts used in reconstructive surgeries which were performed in India around 800 BC. Plastic surgery didn't really make much progress from that point onwards until the 19th century. In the year of 1827, the first operation to help aid a cleft palate was performed by a physician named John Peter Mettauer. Around this period of time, much progress began to be made when it comes to reconstructive surgeries. This is due mostly in part to the fact that the wars of the time caused such wide-spread damage that doctors strived to do surgeries that would help their patients feel more comfortable with their appearance. Many different types of surgeries began to be employed, with many facial reconstructive procedures being at the forefront. These surgeries became the basis for many of the plastic surgery procedures that are being performed to this day.
When World War II broke out in the 1940s, surgeons once again had a large problem to face when it came to helping people with deformities from the modern weapons of war. In this time, an organization known as the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, or ASPS, became quite prominent in the medical world with its membership growing by leaps and bounds. The organization was committed to upholding stringent practices for which plastic surgeons should operate, requiring a board certification to obtain membership into the group. When the 1950s came about, many significant surgical procedures were discovered, owing mostly in part to war victims in Korea. Some of the more significant achievements heralded in this time period included the usage of rotation flaps for skin deformities and internal wiring for facial features.
During the 1960s, many other discoveries were made. One of the most prominent was likely the use of silicone in plastic surgery procedures. Originally used to treat imperfections of the skin, in 1962, it was first used to augment breasts, which would soon grow to be one of the most common plastic surgery procedures. The next few decades saw an increase in understanding of how to perform plastic surgery operations while making the patient feel as comfortable as possible. As it stands today, plastic surgery is largely engrained in our culture, and it's widespread use has come to be accepted by many. While there's still much to learn about reconstructive and cosmetic procedures, the progress that we've made in the past century have truly shown the potential for what we may one day be able to do.
Cosmetic surgery news on the Web
Head And Facial Abnormal Features Repair Themselves
A report in the May issue of the journal Developmental Dynamics reveals that biologists from the Tufts University have, for the first time, discovered a "self-correcting" mechanism by which developing organisms recognize and repair head and facial abnormalities. This is the first time that this kind of flexible, corrective process has been rigorously analyzed through mathematical modeling... |
Forehead And Scalp Successfully Reattached
Surgeons at the Buncke Clinic at California Pacific Medical Center, part of the Sutter Health network, successfully performed an extremely rare surgery reattaching the forehead and scalp of a 22-year-old Stockton woman. This type of surgery has only been successfully performed a few times in the world. The patient, Sonya Dominguez, was at her workplace when her hair was caught in machinery... |
Chinplants Are Becoming As Fashionable As Nose Jobs
Nosejobs and Breast Enhancements have certainly become mainstream procedures that many people electively choose to undergo. Now chin augmentation seems to be taking off, with figures highlighting so called "chin plants" as the fastest growing plastic surgery procedure... |
Cosmetic Surgeons See Chin Surgery Skyrocket
New statistics released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) show that chin augmentation is the fastest growing plastic surgery trend among all major demographics - a phenomenon which appears, in part, to be sparked by increased usage of video chat technology, an aging baby boomer population and a desire for success in the workplace... |
What Is A Facelift? What Is A Rhytidectomy?
A facelift is a surgical procedure that is typically used to give a more youthful appearance to the face. Technically, it is also called a rhytidectomy. This type of cosmetic surgery reshapes the lower one-third of the face by removing excess facial skin. Some facelift procedures also include the tightening of underlying tissues... |
Inhibitor Causing Male Pattern Baldness Discovered
A study published in Science Translational Medicine, from the University of Pennsylvania, explains that scientists looking for the holy grail in beauty treatment have discovered an abnormal quantity of a protein, called Prostaglandin D2, present in the scalp of bald men, that they think may be responsible for their hair loss... |
Publication Of Cytori Breast Reconstruction Cell Therapy Trial Results
Cytori Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CYTX) has announced the publication of RESTORE-2 trial results in the peer-reviewed European Journal of Surgical Oncology. RESTORE-2 is a 71 patient multi-center, prospective clinical trial using autologous adipose-derived regenerative cell (ADRC)-enriched fat grafting for reconstruction of the breast after cancer surgery... |
Plastic Surgery - Enormous Increase In Uptake By Younger Women
Professor Laurence Kirwan, one of the world's leading plastic surgeons, who has appeared on BBC Breakfast to comment on the PIP breast implant scandal and who wrote in the Mail on Sunday (British newspaper) how cosmetic surgery can prolong life, has said that more and more young women between the ages of 35 and 40 years have cosmetic surgery... |
PiP Breast Implant Scandal, 7000 More Women May Need Replacement Or Removal UK
The UK Department of Health has issued an update on PiP breast implants scandal which struck in late 2011. Authorities have identified an additional 7,000 women in the UK that may be in need to replacement or removal of their implants, and have confirmed this should be covered under the same NHS arrangements made earlier in the year... |
Silicone Gel-Filled Breast Implant Approved By FDA, With Conditions
Sientra Inc's silicone gel-filled breast implant for breast reconstruction or augmentation has been approved by the FDA, as long as the company carries out post-approval studies to assess the device's long-term effectiveness, safety, and rare disease outcomes. The implant is approved for females aged at least 22 years... |
What Is Liposuction? Liposuction Risks And Benefits
Liposuction, also called lipoplasty, liposculpture suction lipectomy, or lipo, is a type of cosmetic surgery which breaks up and "sucks" fat from various possible parts of the body, most commonly the abdomen, thighs, buttocks, neck, chin, upper and backs of the arms, calves, and back. The fat is removed through a hollow instrument - a cannula - which is inserted under the skin... |
Man's Head Reshaped With Fat From His Stomach
Hang onto that belly fat, it may come in useful! In a UK first, surgeons at King's College Hospital in London, have taken fat from a man's stomach and injected it into his head to help reshape it... |
Plastic Surgery Really Does Make People Look Younger
Plastic surgery seems to make people look about 8.9 years younger than their actual age, researchers from the University of Toronto and NorthShore University Health System reported in Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery. Jeremy P. Warner, M.D., and team set out to determine how much younger esthetic facial surgical procedures made people look, in order to measure surgical success... |
Plastic Surgeries Continue To Grow, Despite Sluggish Economy, USA
13.8 million plastic surgery procedures were performed in 2011, a 5% increase on the year before, according to a new report issued by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The authors added that by the end of 2011, the number of total plastic surgeries had grown for 24 consecutive months. These figures include both minimally-invasive and surgical procedures. The ASPS informs that 5... |
PIP Breast Implants Unsafe, Say German Authorities
German authorities at the BfArM Institute have officially informed the International Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) that the former GfE Medizintechnik GmbH in Germany sold breast implants under the name TiBREEZE from September 2003 to August 2004, which were manufactured with PIP components... |
Male Tummy Tucks Up 15% In UK
Britons appear to be tightening their belts in more ways than one: 2011 audit figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) revealed on Monday that the number of men undergoing tummy tucks (abdominoplasty) was 15% higher than in 2010... |
Breast Implant Boss Arrested
The scandal of the faulty, badly made breast implants from French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) continues with the arrest of Jean-Claude Mas, 72, who according to police has been held at his home in Six-Fours-les-Plages in the South of France... |
Ban Cosmetic Surgery Ads, Regulate The Industry, Urge To UK Government
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) is calling on the UK government to ban cosmetic surgery advertising and tighten up industry regulations, including carrying annual checks on surgeons. The association has long voiced its objection to the use of "marketing gimmicks" to promote cosmetic surgery and what it sees as the lax regulation of the industry... |
PIP Breast Implants - UK Dept Of Health Response To Expert Report
According to the Department of Health, their main concern is the wellbeing of women who have had PiP breast implants. For this reason, an expert group led by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director, has been asked to examine all available data and evidence on PiP breast implants... |
Brain Development In Tadpoles Affected By Cosmetic Chemical
A new study finds that low concentrations of the chemical methylisothiazolinone has subtle but measurable negative effects on the neural development of tadpoles. The chemical is found in some cosmetics, although the study does not provide any evidence that cosmetics are unsafe for humans... |
What Are Varicose Veins? What Causes Varicose Veins?
Varicose veins are enlarged, swollen, and tortuous (twisting) veins, frequently linked to faulty valves in the vein. They are generally blue or dark purple. People with bulging and/or lumpy varicose veins on their legs may experience aching and heavy limbs. Sometimes, in very severe cases, the varicose veins may rupture, or varicose ulcers may form on the skin... |
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