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Frequently Asked Questions - Plastic Surgery…Cosmetic Surgery…Plastic Surgery Procedures…Cosmetic Surgery Procedures…
Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures are often synonymous in their meaning. We will examine Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery and their definitions, the training that goes into the field of Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery and what type of Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures are common place. The purpose of this section is to give you an idea of all aspects of Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery and the Procedures that this area of medicine entails.
First let’s look at the field of Plastic Surgery. Plastic Surgery can be explored in the following manner:
- Plastic Surgery Defined: Plastic Surgery is defined by Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary as: “plastic surgery Function: noun: surgery concerned with the repair, restoration, or improvement of lost, injured, defective, or misshapen body parts.” Encyclopedia Britannica defined Plastic Surgery as: “to correct disfigurement, restore function, or improve appearance. Plastic Surgery may involve reshaping or moving tissues to fill a depression, cover a wound, or improve appearance. Cosmetic Surgery solely to improve appearance is not the main focus of plastic surgery. It is utilized after disfigurement by burns or tumor removal or for reconstructive work, and it may involve hiding incisions in skin folds or using buried sutures to hold wounds closed. Reconstructive plastic surgery corrects severe functional impairments, fixes physical abnormalities, and compensates for tissue lost to trauma or surgery.” Still others have slightly different definitions of Plastic Surgery: “Plastic surgery: The field of surgery concerned with reducing scarring or disfigurement that may occur as a result of accidents, birth defects, or treatment for diseases, such as melanoma. Many plastic surgeons also perform cosmetic surgery that is unrelated to medical conditions, such as rhinoplasty to change the shape of the nose.” With all these different meanings to the words Plastic Surgery is there any wonder that there may be some confusion when we hear and use the term Plastic Surgery? Plastic Surgery is derived from the Greek word Plastikos which means to bend or mold. The term Plastic Surgery became popular during the World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam when Plastic Surgery was used to repair traumatic war injuries. Many of the Plastic Surgery Procedures, at that time, entailed the bending or molding of existing tissues (flaps) used to repair tissue defects from war injuries. So the term Plastic Surgery stayed with that particular type of surgical procedures. In subsequent decades, after those conflicts, the term Plastic Surgery began to take on additional meaning and include the surgical treatment on non-traumatic injuries and conditions. Plastic Surgery Procedures then expanded to also mean the repair of damaged tissues from birth defects, disease conditions, surgical defects to remove disease and tumors as well as Procedures to improve the appearance. It is amazing that the latter aspect of Plastic Surgery is perhaps the most common perception of Plastic Surgery today. Plastic Surgery is often used by people in the media, medicine and lay people when speaking about Procedures that are performed on perfectly healthy individuals for the sole purpose of improving their appearance. We may think that Plastic Surgery is new, but in reality Plastic Surgery has been around since ancient times. People attempting to achieve beauty have left scattered details of their endeavors throughout recorded history. There is evidence that Ancient Egyptians practiced many beauty rituals including Plastic Surgery. They practiced Facelifts, Blepharoplasty and Rhinoplasties and may be considered the forefathers of modern-day Plastic Surgery Procedures. The ancient Greeks and Romans however are generally credited with discovering many of the ideal beauty standards (ideal angles and proportions) that remain in existence today. From this point, the history of Plastic Surgery becomes vague. It is clear, that mankind has been driven to achieve beauty and has looked to Plastic Surgery as a means of achieving this goal. This desire to improve one’s looks through Plastic Surgery has never faltered, nor has the reverence with which beauty has been recognized. Reports as early as the 1800s indicate that Plastic Surgery Procedures were being performed on an almost routine manner. However these Plastic Surgery Procedures were not widely accepted and having Plastic Surgery was considered taboo. This negative attitude, towards Plastic Surgery, prevailed well into the 1900s when Plastic Surgery was being performed secretly. Plastic Surgery was something that reputable surgeons did not do and if you were caught performing Plastic Surgery Procedures for the frivolous nature of improving someone’s appearance, the surgeon risked being scorned and ridiculed by the surgical societies of the time. Still there were some that braved this new world of Plastic Surgery Procedures. One such surgeon, Harold Delf Gillies (1882-1960) is credited with developing Plastic Surgery as a field of medicine. In 1918 he became the first physician to specialize in plastic surgery. Born in New Zealand, Gillies studied and stayed in England. At the beginning of World War II he was one of only 4 qualified Plastic Surgeons in England. Dr. Gillies once confessed, "Often while lifting a face I have a feeling of guilt that I am merely making money," adding, "Yet, is it not justified if it brings even a little extra happiness to a soul who needs it?" Such was the prevailing attitude towards Plastic Surgery and Plastic Surgeons. It wasn't until the 1950s that Plastic Surgery began to enjoy some of the popularity that we see today. Ever so slowly, Plastic Surgery became more of a medical discipline and more surgeons were being trained in the various aspects of Plastic Surgery and Plastic Surgery Procedures. Plastic Surgery came to it’s current day meaning of an all inclusive medical surgical specialty that includes: Reconstructive Plastic Surgery to repair congenital, traumatic or defects caused by disease states and the treatment of the disease; Cosmetic or Aesthetic Plastic Surgery to improve one’s appearance; Hand Surgery Microvascular.
- Plastic Surgery Training: So that we do not get ahead of ourselves, I must digress before we go into the different types of Plastic Surgery training. Because there are different meanings to the term Plastic Surgery, we must identify what Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery groups are in existence today and look at their specific training in Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery. It turns out that there are three groups of MD’s that are involved in Plastic Surgery and Cosmetic Surgery. Some groups train Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeons that perform only the Aesthetic aspect of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery and other groups training both reconstructive Plastic Surgeons as well as Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeons that do Aesthetic Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery. For the sake of clarity and to remain unbiased, I prefer to refer to the aesthetic aspect of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery as just that...Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery. This allows all of the three surgical groups to lay equal claim to this area of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery. Since all three groups specialize in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery it is untrue that any one group can lay claim to some superiority in what we are calling Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery. Be wary of such claims.
- The first group that specializes in what we refer to as Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures is the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. This is a group of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeons that specialize in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery of the face, head, neck and the associated structures lying therein. Their Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Board is called the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The next organization is called the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery with their Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Board called the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. This Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery group trains surgeons in the specialty of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery of the entire body unlike the Facial Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Group. The third group is called the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and trains specialists in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery of the entire body as well as all facets of Plastic Surgery Procedures for reconstruction. These three groups represent the Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeons in the US and the rest of the world. Obviously, the organizations of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeons in other countries use the name of the specific country but they are associated with the specific Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery group. For example, the European Society of Cosmetic Surgery is similar to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery. The specific Plastic Surgery training that a Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeon would undergo varies with each of these Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery organizations. In general terms the training required to become a Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeon is as follows:
Plastic Surgery…Cosmetic Surgery…Plastic Surgery Procedures…Cosmetic Surgery Procedures…Plastic Surgery Training…Cosmetic Surgery Training:
- First the Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery training requires that medical school be completed for 4 years….
- Second in the Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery training is Internship for 1 year following medical school..
- Third in the Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery training is residency. Here the different programs that train surgeons in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery use variations of years required and types of training to complete their programs in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery. There are many Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery training programs and as such there is no way we can list the exact training requirements in all of these Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery programs however, what follows is an example of each of the training programs for the three Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery groups: The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgery. We will look at each of these Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery training programs separately.
- A. Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Training Programs in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery: These programs are offered after surgeons have completed a 4 or 5 year residency program in Otolaryngology Head/Neck Surgery. The fellowships are 1 year in duration. Fellowships in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery are taken after residency has been completed. Facial Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery therefore is 4 or 5 years residency and 1 year fellowship. The residency covers Facial Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery, accounting for 25% of the training on average. Facial Plastic, Cosmetic Surgery and Reconstructive Surgery is 100% of the 1 year Fellowship that follows. Upon completion of the residency, surgeons are allowed to join the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. To become board eligible and board certified by the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the 1 year fellowship in Facial Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery is required. Upon completion of training, surgeons have been trained in Facial Plastic, Cosmetic and Reconstructive Surgery Procedures.
- B. Cosmetic Surgery Training Programs in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery: Like the Facial Plastic programs, surgeons first complete various residencies in Otolaryngology Head/Neck Surgery (4-5 years), General Surgery (4-6 years), Dermatology (3-4 years), Opthalmology (3-4 years) and Facial Plastic Surgery (4-5 year residency and 1 year fellowship). Many different types of surgeons may train in these Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Programs that are 1-2 years long. This Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery program trains surgeons in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures of the Face and Body. Once the Cosmetic Surgery Program is completed, the surgeons are eligible to become board certified with the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. Surgeons of different specialties may join the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery but may not become board certified by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery until the 1-2 year fellowship in Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery of the Face and Body has been completed.
- C: Plastic Surgery Training Programs of the American Society of Plastic Surgery: This Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery program trains surgeons that have completed: an internship of 1 year and then a Plastic Surgery residency of 5-6 years, a general surgery residency of 3-6 years with 2-3 years in an additional Plastic Surgery residency or Otolaryngology Head/Neck Surgery residency with 2-3 years Plastic Surgery Residency. Other combinations may exist as pre-requisites for Plastic Surgery residency. This Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery training program trains Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeons in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery of the face and body as well as reconstructive Plastic Surgery Procedures. Upon completion of the Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Residency, surgeons are eligible to join the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and are board eligible for the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
- Many years of training in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures go into each of the three Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery training programs and each training program may have slightly different requirements and focus on Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures. In addition each Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery organization and Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Board will have slightly different criteria for membership. As a consumer seeking Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures it is wise to focus on the Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery experience of an individual surgeon over claims made by any one Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery organization over another Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery organization. The Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeon, as an individual, will be performing your Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedure…not the Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery organization. Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery has become a highly competitive market and this sometimes motivates statements and claims that you as a consumer seeking Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures must have the knowledge to evaluate. Hopefully, the explanation of the different Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery organizations and their training in Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures will assist you in this evaluation. Dr. Francis Palmer, a world-renowned Beverly Hills Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeon has written a 4-part method for “Choosing your Plastic and Cosmetic Surgeon”.
Plastic Surgery…Cosmetic Surgery…Plastic Surgery Procedures…Cosmetic Surgery Procedures:
Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures include the following:
- Facial Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures:
- Body Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures:
Plastic Surgery…Cosmetic Surgery…Plastic Surgery Procedures…Cosmetic Surgery Reconstructive Procedures: These include Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures that are designed to repair defects in the face and body as a result of congenital (birth defects), trauma or disease. These Plastic and Cosmetic Reconstructive Procedures include Flap repair, microvascular surgery, hand and back surgery.
Most Common Plastic Surgery…Cosmetic Surgery…Plastic Surgery Procedures…Cosmetic Surgery Procedures: According to the three Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery organizations, the following represent the most common Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures.
#1. Liposuction: Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures to remove unwanted fat from the face/body.
#2. Breast Augmentation/Enhancement/Lift/Reduction: Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures to enhance the shape of the Breasts.
#3. Blepharoplasty: Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures of the Upper/Lower Eyelids.
#4. Rhinoplasty: Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures to reshape the nose.
Hair Transplants and Facelifts are Cosmetic Surgery Procedures to rejuvenate the face/neck and thinning scalp and round out the top 5-6 Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedures sought by people seeking Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery. The top Non-Surgical Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery treatments were Botox Injections; Microdermabrasion; Soft Tissue Fillers like Restylane, Sculptra, Radiesse and Collagen; Chemical Peels.
Dr. Francis Palmer, voted One of the World’s Best Plastic and Cosmetic surgeons is conveniently located in Beverly Hills to provide all of your Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery Procedure needs. Come see us today!
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