WPlastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns. While reconstructive surgery aims to reconstruct a part of the body or improve its functioning, cosmetic surgery aims at improving the appearance of it.
WAbdominoplasty or "tummy tuck" is a cosmetic surgery procedure used to make the abdomen thinner and more firm. The surgery involves the removal of excess skin and fat from the middle and lower abdomen in order to tighten the muscle and fascia of the abdominal wall. This type of surgery is usually sought by patients with loose or sagging tissues after pregnancy or major weight loss.
WJessica Alves is a Brazilian-British television personality noted for having undergone dozens of plastic surgeries to alter her appearance.
WAnaplastology is a branch of medicine dealing with the prosthetic rehabilitation of an absent, disfigured or malformed anatomically critical location of the face or body. The term anaplastology was coined by Walter G. Spohn and is used worldwide.
WAn auricular splint (AS) or ear splint is a custom-made medical device that is used to maintain auricular projection and dimensions following second stage auricular reconstruction. The AS is made from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), which is typically used to make custom-made mouthguards and was developed by a team from Great Ormond Street Hospital in the United Kingdom.
WBotulinum toxin (BoNT) is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and related species. It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon endings at the neuromuscular junction, thus causing flaccid paralysis. The toxin causes the disease botulism. The toxin is also used commercially for medical and cosmetic purposes.
WBuccal fat pad extraction or buccal fat removal is a plastic surgery procedure for reducing prominent cheeks, by the proportional removal of buccal fat-pad tissue.
WCapsular contracture is a response of the immune system to foreign materials in the human body. Medically, it occurs mostly in context of the complications from breast implants and artificial joint prosthetics.
WClitoral hood reduction, also termed clitoral hoodectomy, clitoral unhooding, clitoridotomy, or (partial) hoodectomy, is a plastic surgery procedure for reducing the size and the area of the clitoral hood (prepuce) in order to further expose the clitoral glans of the clitoris.
WA dermatome is a surgical instrument used to produce thin slices of skin from a donor area, in order to use them for making skin grafts. One of its main applications is for reconstituting skin areas damaged by grade 3 burns or trauma.
WFlap surgery is a technique in plastic and reconstructive surgery where any type of tissue is lifted from a donor site and moved to a recipient site with an intact blood supply. This is distinct from a graft, which does not have an intact blood supply and therefore relies on growth of new blood vessels. This is done to fill a defect such as a wound resulting from injury or surgery when the remaining tissue is unable to support a graft, or to rebuild more complex anatomic structures such as breast or jaw.
WForeskin restoration is the process of expanding the skin on the penis to reconstruct an organ similar to the foreskin, which has been removed by circumcision or injury. Foreskin restoration is primarily accomplished by stretching the residual skin of the penis, but surgical methods also exist. Restoration creates a facsimile of the foreskin, but specialized tissues removed during circumcision cannot be reclaimed. Actual regeneration of the foreskin is experimental at this time. Some forms of restoration involve only partial regeneration in instances of a high-cut wherein the circumcisee feels that the circumciser removed too much skin and that there is not enough skin for erections to be comfortable.
WHair removal, also known as epilation or depilation, is the deliberate removal of body hair or head hair.
WHirudo medicinalis, the European medicinal leech, is one of several species of leeches used as "medicinal leeches".
WThe Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery is a peer-reviewed open access medical journal published by Medknow Publications on behalf of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India. It covers research on all aspects of aesthetic plastic surgery.
WJustin Jedlica, known as the Human Ken Doll, is a Slovak-American man who has garnered international attention for undergoing many cosmetic procedures.
WLabiaplasty is a plastic surgery procedure for altering the labia minora and the labia majora, the folds of skin surrounding the human vulva. There are two main categories of women seeking cosmetic genital surgery: those with congenital conditions such as intersex, and those with no underlying condition who experience physical discomfort or wish to alter the appearance of their genitals because they believe they do not fall within a normal range.
WLaser hair removal is the process of hair removal by means of exposure to pulses of laser light that destroy the hair follicle. It had been performed experimentally for about twenty years before becoming commercially available in 1995 and 1996. One of the first published articles describing laser hair removal was authored by the group at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1998. Laser hair removal is widely practiced in clinics, and even in homes using devices designed and priced for consumer self-treatment. Many reviews of laser hair removal methods, safety, and efficacy have been published in the dermatology literature.
WA lip lift is a plastic surgery procedure that modifies the cosmetic appearance of the lips by reshaping them to increase the prominence of the vermilion border; and to enhance the facial area above the lips into a more aesthetically pleasing shape. In corrective praxis, a lip lift procedure is distinguished from lip enhancement, the augmentation of the lips, which can be effected with a non-surgical procedure.
WLiposuction, or simply lipo, is a type of fat-removal procedure used in plastic surgery. Evidence does not support an effect on weight beyond a couple of months and does not appear to affect obesity-related problems. In the United States, liposuction is the most common cosmetic surgery.
WLipotuck is a procedure trademarked in 2006, by Dr. A. H. Ahmadi. The procedure is a single cosmetic surgery combining abdominoplasty and liposuction.
WPermanent makeup is a cosmetic technique which employs tattoos as a means of producing designs that resemble makeup, such as eyelining and other permanent enhancing colors to the skin of the face, lips, and eyelids. It is also used to produce artificial eyebrows, particularly in people who have lost them as a consequence of old age, disease, such as alopecia totalis, chemotherapy, or a genetic disturbance, and to disguise scars and white spots in the skin such as in vitiligo. It is also used to restore or enhance the breast's areola, such as after breast surgery.
WMicrosurgery is a general term for surgery requiring an operating microscope. The most obvious developments have been procedures developed to allow anastomosis of successively smaller blood vessels and nerves which have allowed transfer of tissue from one part of the body to another and re-attachment of severed parts. Microsurgical techniques are utilized by several specialties today, such as: general surgery, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, gynecological surgery, otolaryngology, neurosurgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, plastic surgery, podiatric surgery and pediatric surgery.
WNegative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT), also known as a vacuum assisted closure (VAC), is a therapeutic technique using a suction pump, tubing and a dressing to remove excess exudate and promote healing in acute or chronic wounds and second- and third-degree burns. The therapy involves the controlled application of subatmospheric pressure to the local wound environment, using a sealed wound dressing connected to a vacuum pump. The use of this technique in wound management increased dramatically over the 1990s and 2000s and a large number of studies have been published examining NPWT. NPWT has many indications for use including:Dehisced surgical wounds Closed surgical wounds Pressure injuries or pressure ulcers Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) Venous insufficiency ulcers Skin flaps and grafts Management of the open abdomen (laparotomy)
WPermanent makeup is a cosmetic technique which employs tattoos as a means of producing designs that resemble makeup, such as eyelining and other permanent enhancing colors to the skin of the face, lips, and eyelids. It is also used to produce artificial eyebrows, particularly in people who have lost them as a consequence of old age, disease, such as alopecia totalis, chemotherapy, or a genetic disturbance, and to disguise scars and white spots in the skin such as in vitiligo. It is also used to restore or enhance the breast's areola, such as after breast surgery.
WPoly Implant Prothèse (PIP) was a French company founded in 1991 that produced silicone gel breast implants. The company was preemptively liquidated in 2010 following the revelation that they had been illegally manufacturing and selling breast implants made from cheaper industrial-grade silicone since 2001.
WPretty Modern: Beauty, Sex, and Plastic Surgery in Brazil is a book by anthropologist Alexander Edmonds published by Duke University Press in 2010. Edmonds examines plastic surgery as a social domain and uses it to explore the social, medical and psychological landscape and conflicts in modern-day Brazil. In this book, he seeks to answer the question "how did plastic surgery—a practice often associated with body hatred and alienation—take root in this city known for its glorious embrace of sensuality and pleasure?” He examine what constitutes a perfect Brazilian body and how the social and racial dynamic of Brazil affect this.
WReconstructive surgery is surgery performed to restore normal appearance and function to body parts malformed by a disease or medical condition.
WRhinoplasty, commonly known as a nose job, is a plastic surgery procedure for altering and reconstructing the nose. There are two types of plastic surgery used – reconstructive surgery that restores the form and functions of the nose and cosmetic surgery that changes the appearance of the nose. Reconstructive surgery seeks to resolve nasal injuries caused by various traumas including blunt, and penetrating trauma and trauma caused by blast injury. Reconstructive surgery also treats birth defects, breathing problems, and failed primary rhinoplasties. Rhinoplasty may remove a bump, narrow nostril width, change the angle between the nose and the mouth, or address injuries, birth defects, or other problems that affect breathing, such as a deviated nasal septum or a sinus condition.
WA rotation flap is a semicircular skin flap that is rotated into the defect on a fulcrum point. Rotation flaps provide the ability to mobilize large areas of tissue with a wide vascular base for reconstruction. The flap must be adequately large, and a large base is necessary if a back-cut will be needed to lengthen the flap. If the flap is too small, the residual defect can be covered by mobilizing the surrounding tissue.
WTobias "Toby" Sheldon was a German songwriter who became a television reality star noted for having paid considerable amounts for plastic surgery in order to resemble singer Justin Bieber. He appeared on the television shows Botched on the E! network and My Strange Addiction on TLC. Some experts argued that Sheldon's obsession was a case of body dysmorphia. This topic was discussed in depth during his appearance alongside Justin Jedlica on the talk show Bethenny.
WSkin grafting, a type of graft surgery, involves the transplantation of skin. The transplanted tissue is called a skin graft.
WTriphalangeal thumb (TPT) is a congenital malformation where the thumb has three phalanges instead of two. The extra phalangeal bone can vary in size from that of a small pebble to a size comparable to the phalanges in non-thumb digits. The true incidence of the condition is unknown, but is estimated at 1:25,000 live births. In about two-thirds of the patients with triphalangeal thumbs, there is a hereditary component. Besides the three phalanges, there can also be other malformations. It was first described by Columbi in 1559.
WVaginoplasty is any surgical procedure that results in the construction or reconstruction of the vagina. It is a type of genitoplasty. Pelvic organ prolapse is often treated with one or more surgeries to repair the vagina. Sometimes a vaginoplasty is needed following the treatment or removal of malignant growths or abscesses in order to restore a normal vaginal structure and function. Surgery to the vagina is done to correct congenital defects to the vagina, urethra and rectum. It will correct protrusion of the urinary bladder into the vagina (cystocele) and protrusion of the rectum (rectocele) into the vagina. Often, a vaginoplasty is performed to repair the vagina and its attached structures due to trauma or injury. Labiaplasty, which alters the appearance of the vulva, can be performed as a discrete surgery, or as a subordinate procedure within a vaginoplasty.
WWalter Ernest O'Neil Yeo was an English sailor in the First World War, who is thought to have been one of the first people to benefit from advanced plastic surgery, namely a skin flap.