Plastic Surgery - Know Its History

The plastic surgery specialty has evolved greatly since its beginnings in India and Egypt due to the dedication and talent of doctors, researches, and surgeons. The sufferings of many people due to outward deformities have been alleviated by these techniques.

Today, you can go to a plastic surgeon and have virtually any part of your body worked on or reconstructed with amazing results. This hasn't always been the case; the industry has been evolving thousands of years and many doctors and surgeons have dedicated their lives to improving and creating new procedures.

The earliest record of any reconstructive operation is found in India from around 2000 B.C. Sushruta, an Indian surgeon and researcher, made many contributions to the field and much of his work was compiled the Sushruta Samhita which was later translated into Arabic and eventually made its way to Europe.

There are also Egyptian papyrus describing ancient reconstructive surgeries on the lips, ears, and nose using skin grafts from the folds of the forehead and cheeks. The history of plastic surgery in Eastern medicine did however move very slowly for thousands of years.

The techniques used in the ancient Eastern world were rudimentary and often severely painful as anesthesia methods were not well developed. The patients were also prone to infection until the concepts of sterilization and disinfectants were introduced.

The development of antibiotics, namely sulfa drugs and penicillin also helped fight infection and make the reconstruction surgeries successful. In the United States, plastic surgery began with surgeon Peter Mettauer in 1827. He performed the first cleft palate surgery in North America using instruments he designed himself.

The industry exploded with the advent of modern war. The modern weapons used in World War I brought about so many new and severe deformities in the face and body. After seeing the intense impact the outer appearance had on these maimed soldiers and their success in life, many talented surgeons dedicated themselves fully to improve surgical treatments that would help the thousands of men that were burned and wounded by war.

By World War II, doctors and surgeons were much better prepared when they needed to relieve the suffering of soldiers through the reconstruction of their broken bodies and scarred flesh.

Dr. William Stewart Halstead founded the first general surgery training program in the United States and it wasn't long before the American surgeons surpassed the rest of the world when it came to specialization within surgery. Plastic Surgery didn't become a specialty until the early 20th century and it wasn't until 1946 that the first issue of The Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery came about.

With its own medical journal and the birth of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons and the accompanying board certification, this discipline became recognized as a respected medical specialty. Modern plastic surgery as we know it today really began in the 1960's and 70's.

And now the specialty welcomes cases both reconstructive as well as those that are truly elective and aesthetic. This medical field now encompasses many procedures, including everything from rhinoplasty (nose job), breast augmentation, and eyelid surgery to abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), liposuction, and total face transplants.

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South Africa Plastic Surgery

For More Teenage Girls, Adult Plastic Surgery

Plastic Surgeon Cape Town

Rise in Breast Implants, Other Procedures Raises Doubts About Long-Term Effects

By Sandra G. Boodman

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 26, 2004; Page A01

Nicole Casto was unhappy with the way she looked and determined to do something about it. A year of breast-feeding had taken a toll, she said, so after her tax refund check arrived in June, the 19-year-old single mother underwent breast implant surgery performed by plastic surgeon Barry J. Cohen in his Rockville office.

"My family was upset that I was so young," said Casto, who lives in Woodstock, Va., and works as a waitress. "But I explained to them that it was about being confident," said Casto, who said she is "very pleased" with the surgery.

For decades, plastic surgery for teenage girls meant one thing -- a nose job, frequently performed during the summer between high school and college. While rhinoplasty remains the most common cosmetic operation for teenagers, doctors are performing an increasing number of procedures such as breast implants, liposuction and tummy tucks on young women like Casto and even girls as young as 14.

The enormous popularity of reality TV shows such as "Extreme Makeover," "The Swan" and MTV's "I Want a Famous Face," as well as an explosion of Web sites that extol the virtues of cosmetic medicine, has fueled the desire of adolescent girls to alter their bodies permanently, and they are finding more surgeons willing to oblige them. Breast implants and liposuction are now bestowed by parents as graduation or birthday gifts. Some doctors say they have performed breast augmentations on baby-boomer mothers and their teenage daughters.

Critics say that teenage girls, who tend to be both obsessed and dissatisfied with their looks, are too young and shortsighted to understand the implications of surgery, particularly the risks that implants may pose and the long-term maintenance they require. Among them are the possibility of rupture or permanent scarring, the need for periodic operations to replace or remove the devices, potential interference with breast-feeding and mammography, and unresolved questions about their long-term safety.

"Having cleavage may be the most important thing when you're 18, but it's not when you're 25," said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women and Families, a nonprofit Washington think tank.

A Recent Boom 

In the past few months, several physicians groups have warned teenagers and their parents against resorting to major surgery as a quick fix for popularity or self-esteem.

From 2002 to 2003, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the number of girls 18 and younger who got breast implants nearly tripled, from 3,872 to 11,326. Among all age groups, cosmetic implants have skyrocketed in popularity, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Last year, according to the ASPS, about 247,000 women got implants for augmentation, compared with 32,000 in 1992.

Although cosmetic surgery remains most popular in other cities -- especially Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York -- eight plastic surgeons who practice in the medically conservative Washington area say they are seeing more teenagers than ever.

"I've seen a huge rise in the number of girls" seeking implants, said McLean plastic surgeon Csaba L. Magassy, who has been in practice for 30 years. In the past year, Magassy estimates, he has given breast implants to about 25 teenagers, most of them 18 or 19, a fourfold increase over a few years ago.

Despite the growing popularity of implants, most teenagers who undergo the surgery are reluctant to talk about a procedure that is easily stigmatized as self-indulgent. A few teenagers who have talked about their decision to get implants have received wide attention.

Several teenage girls who had cosmetic surgery in the past year requested that their names be withheld from this story. One of Magassy's recent patients, a 19-year-old student at Salisbury University in Maryland, said she had been seriously considering implants since she was 15. Unhappy with her 34A bra size, she said she did not like the way her clothes fit.

"My mother and I talked about it, I had money saved, and I just wanted to do it," said the student, whose family lives near Annapolis. She said her parents paid part of the $6,700 fee as a reward because she received college scholarships. "I'm just a lot happier" wearing a 36C bra, she added. "I think a lot of girls think about plastic surgery."

Some of Magassy's patients undergo multiple operations, acquiring smaller noses and bigger breasts at the same time. "That's a popular combination," he said. Stephen Greenberg, a New York surgeon, said that of the 100 teenage girls to whom he has given implants in the past year, about 20 had an accompanying tummy tuck or liposuction.

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