Friday, May 6, 2011

Evolution of Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery has existed much longer than many people realize. For thousands of years, human beings have performed procedures that change their outward appearance, whether this was to create a socially accepted appearance or to reconstruct tissue damaged due to injury. In the last century, however, plastic surgery has come into its own, providing complex procedures that can make a huge difference in the lives of people who are unhappy with their appearance.

Reconstructive Surgery

The history of reconstructive surgery dates back as far as 800 BCE, when physicians from India are recorded as practicing skin grafts. Surgery to correct cleft palates also dates back several centuries. As long as there have been people practicing medicine, physicians have worked to provide reconstruction for their patients.

The brutality of modern warfare, however, brought plastic surgery to a new level. During World War I, doctors in the field developed techniques to manage horrific wounds, particularly facial wounds, in their attempts to ensure their patients could live a normal life after leaving combat. Many of today's most complex cosmetic procedures owe their success to these doctors, often working under horrible conditions, trying to save the bodies, limbs and faces of soldiers on the front lines.

Modern Plastic Surgery

In today's plastic surgery practice, doctors are able to achieve results of increasing complexity and delicacy due to new technology. Lasers, laparoscopic surgery, and refined surgical techniques make plastic surgery more versatile and safer than it has ever been before.

Modern plastic surgeons can repair injuries, ease damage done by burns, correct birth defects, and change the appearance of individuals who are self-conscious about their looks. While many plastic surgery procedures provide strictly cosmetic results, many people who seek this surgery find that their lives are changed for the better when they are no longer trapped in a face or body that brings them self-consciousness or discomfort.
Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Wi-Fi, Graphite, 6" Display with New E Ink Pearl Technology - includes Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers

No comments: