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Thesis statement: With the growing popularity of cosmetic surgery since the 1950 s, plastic surgery has become misidentified with beauty surgery, when, in fact, a large percentage of procedures serve a medical purpose. B. Requirements of a plastic surgeon b. Afflicts fewer than 1, 000 Americans A. Number of days until makeup can be worn, hair shampooed Plastic surgery deals with the remodeling of any portion of the body that has been damaged or deformed. The primary objectives of plastic surgery are the correction of defects, the restoration of lost function, and the improvement of appearance.
Appearance plays a large role in the lives of most people, which has caused cosmetic surgery to become a popular type of plastic surgery practiced. Cosmetic surgery is a branch of plastic surgery that is designed to alter a persons looks. Although cosmetic surgery is viewed by many as vain and shallow, it does a great deal more than deliver just a pretty face. Thousands of people who have had successful surgeries to improve their looks have reported that the changes made them happier than they had ever thought possible. Self-esteem soars to new heights, allowing shy, self-conscious, or aging people to become more outgoing, self-confident, and youthful. The history of modern facial plastic surgery began more than one hundred years ago, when a few men independently began to explore a new surgical frontier of reconstructive and functional repairs that also improved appearance.
By observing one another these surgeons rapidly improved and expanded the procedures each could perform. One surgeon in particular stands out from this time. Jacques Joseph was working as the assistant to orthopedic surgeon Professor Dr. Julius Wolff in Berlin, Germany, when he became interested in facial plastic surgery. Joseph's first case was a young boy, who refused to attend school because he suffered such ridicule from classmates for his large, protruding ears. In 1896, the boy's mother approached Joseph for advice, asking if there might be surgical relief for her son's problem.
After careful planning, Joseph operated successfully, earning him a place in history as the father of the modern subspecialty. (Simons 3 - 5). Reshaping of the nose, or rhinoplasty, is one of the most common of all the plastic surgery procedures. Thousands of people every year choose this procedure to change the size or shape of their noses. Rhinoplasty can change the size of your nose, change the angle between your nose and your upper lip, change the shape of the tip or the bridge, or narrow the width of the nostrils. It may also correct birth defects or breathing problems.
Teenagers are best treated after their growth spurt, around age 14 - 15 for girls and 15 - 16 for boys (Hill 7). A major technique used in plastic surgery is grafting, the transplanting or implanting of living tissue from one part of the body to another, or from one person to another, with the expectation that the tissue will grow to supply a missing part. Several techniques of skin grafting are commonly used. One is the transfer of tissue from an adjacent part to the defect by transposition or rotation of flaps of skin.
Another frequently used technique, particularly in minor facial defects, is full-thickness grafting, in which the full thickness of the skin is removed and transferred as a free transplant to the defective area (Rees 155 - 7). These types of skin grafting have proven to be the most effective. Eyelid surgery is the most frequently performed of all facial cosmetic operations (Rees 90). Except for reconstruction of the nose, this type of cosmetic surgery is the most difficult one for surgeons to do, calling for one of the oldest operations in the arsenal of cosmetic surgery and the technique is widely known and practiced (Hill 11). What this operation does is remove loose and redundant fat, as well as skin, and sometimes even muscle, from the upper and lower eyelids. Thomas D.
Rees, M. D. , stated in his work on plastic surgery, We live in a culture preoccupied with youth. Everything in our society, from television programming and the movies to the news and the specialty magazines, puts heavy emphasis on the young. (40) In his opinion, it is this fascination with youth that brings people to consider cosmetic surgery. A prime example of this desire to feel young again is the growing popularity of the facelift among men and women over forty. As skin dries and thins out with age, nature and the pull of gravity bestow upon the face loose, sagging skin, particularly under the chin, and on the cheeks.
The facelift provides relief for this by removing most of the wrinkles (Simons 14). Each procedure is highly individualized, focusing in on the patients area of wrinkles. Scar revision, a part of facial reconstruction, is a part of cosmetic surgery that is not often explored. To victims of birth defects, accidents, or abuse, this type of surgery can have a life-altering affect. For them, the results go beyond vanity and into the regions of self-worth views.
Chelsey Thomas was born with a rare disorder called Moebius that left her face expressionless. Jim McHugh described the symptoms of this rare disease in his article in People. Moebius is a genetic defect that afflicts fewer than 1, 000 Americans and may involve not only fused fingers and a lack of facial expression but also tongue paralysis, difficulty with eye movement, and, in ten percent of cases, though not Chelsey's, retardation. (54) Chelsey's parents met with Dr. Ronald Zuker of Toronto.
He had performed thirty procedures to repair expressionless faces, and on December 15, he began on Chelsey (McHugh 57). The surgery involved moving a section of muscle from Chelsey's thigh and transplanting it to her cheek. Thanks to this modern technology surgery, Chelsey Thomas can smile. Geni Hefner is an example of how cosmetic surgery can turn a persons life around. Her husband beat her for many years, and when she finally gained the strength to leave him with her two children, she bore the scars of that abuse with a heavy heart. Hefner stated in an article about her in Ms. , You get to the point where makeup is automatic, but still subconsciously youre constantly being reminded what put those scars there so that you have to wear makeup.
Its a constant, constant reminder of the past. (Hull 34) Dr. Eugene Alford performed reconstructive plastic surgery on Hefner's face, giving her a new face to go along with her new life. Her operation, along with many other operations for battered women, was free of charge. It was paid for by an organization called Face to Face. Face to Face, the National Domestic Violence Project, is sponsored by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
The program has repaired everything from broken noses to battered brows for more than 600 women (Hull 34) Jennifer Bingham Hull explains the value of cosmetic surgery for people like Gene Hefner in her article in Ms. Many feminists, of course, are critical of the recent boom in cosmetic surgery for women, pointing out that it feeds society's notion that women must remain ageless and live up to unrealistic beauty standards. For battered women, however, plastic surgery can be far more than a cosmetic surgery. These patients say their facial scars have been a source of pain and embarrassment, often for years, their disfigured noses and smashed cheekbones serving as a constant reminder of their former victimization. By reclaiming their faces, many feel they are removing their batterers last hold on their lives. (34 - 5) Geni Hefner can vouch for that comment with her own opinion, Its wonderful to look in the mirror without my ex-husband staring me in the face (Hull 35) Automobile accidents also bring people to get cosmetic surgery.
The scars from a tragedy like that can be erased so that a person may continue living life in a normal manner. The reasons for plastic surgery are varied. Some patients suffer from birth disfigurements such as birthmarks, cleft palates, and congenital facial deformities. Others are victims of accidents, burns, diseases, and the treatment required for such diseases. Many choose to change some of the signs of premature aging or the shape or size of a facial feature that has bothered them for years (Simons 25). Thomas D.
Rees, M. D. stated in his book on how cosmetic surgery can improve looks and life: Wanting to look more attractive, more rested, more youthful, is not a matter of mere vanity it is the modern persons way of saying, I want to look as good as I can, as good as I feel. Accepted as a legitimate branch of medicine, moving ahead rapidly with new and evolving techniques, no longer the province of the rich and famous, cosmetic surgery has most assuredly come of age. (252) After all, why should a person live in angst with a deformity, facial or otherwise, that could be fixed, to make life that much easier? Rees also used a quote from William Shakespeare's Sonnets to describe plastic surgery. Look in thy glass, and tell the face thou views/ Now is the time that face should form another (253) This shows that perhaps even in those days, people who were unsatisfied with their looks longed for a way they could change them.
Although plastic surgery is commonly thought of as shallow, these examples have shown that it can Bibliography:
Free research essays on topics related to: face to face, plastic surgery, constant reminder, cosmetic surgery, thousands of people
Research essay sample on Face To Face Thousands Of People
