Cosmetic surgery is a unique discipline of medicine that focuses on improving appearance through surgical and medical techniques. Cosmetic plastic surgery includes both surgical and non-surgical procedures that improve and reshape body structures to improve appearance and confidence. Cosmetic or cosmetic surgery includes several rejuvenating procedures that encompass the entire body. For example, cosmetic surgery includes facelifts to treat age-related changes, rhinoplasty to correct the nose, and blepharoplasty for treat excess skin on the eyelids.
Breast and body surgeries are very common procedures and include breast augmentation, mastopexy, tummy tuck and body contouring procedures after weight loss. The field also includes the use of various injectables, such as fillers and neurotoxins, to address asymmetries and age-related changes. Scholars can continue with a training grant if they wish. It's a common misunderstanding that the word plastic in plastic surgery means artificial.
Rather, the word originated from the ancient Greek word plastikos, which means to mold or shape. Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty that deals both with improving a person's appearance and with reconstructing facial and body tissue defects due to diseases, trauma, or congenital disorders. Cosmetic surgery aims to improve the appearance and the way people feel about themselves. It can be performed on almost any part of the face or body. Many people who choose this type of surgery hope that it will boost their self-esteem.
Another name for the field of aesthetic medicine is aesthetic medicine. Reconstructive plastic surgery may be considered medically necessary, but cosmetic surgery is almost always elective, meaning that the patient chooses to undergo a procedure even though insurance companies do not normally consider it critical to the patient's health. All ABCS and ABFCS certified cosmetic surgeons must also have primary certification in another surgical specialty. Before being able to appear for the joint exam, surgeons must perform a minimum number of common cosmetic procedures that demonstrate that they are specialists in the necessary procedures.
Because cosmetic procedures treat areas that work properly, cosmetic surgery is designated as elective. Cosmetic surgeons are trained in aesthetic principles and facial cosmetic surgeons, in particular, specialize in aesthetic procedures for the head, face, and neck. Every surgeon certified by the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery has completed a 1-year fellowship certified by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery exclusively in cosmetic surgery. Board-certified cosmetic surgeons are trained in a 1- to 2-year post-residency fellowship that focuses solely on cosmetic procedures or demonstrate equivalent rigor through their practical experience. Cosmetic surgery includes surgical procedures aimed at improving appearance, either by adjusting the proportions of the face or body, increasing certain features or improving symmetry.
Cosmetic surgery board certification requires surgical training followed by extensive and documented cosmetic surgery experience. While both cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery seek to improve the patient's body, the general philosophies that guide training, research, and goals for patients are different. Because of this, cosmetic surgeons primarily gain training and experience after completing their residency training. Elective cosmetic procedures are performed by doctors from a variety of medical fields, including plastic surgeons. In fact, the field of plastic surgery is so broad that there are subspecialties within the specialty of plastic surgery, including cranio-maxillofacial surgery, microvascular surgery, hand surgery, and cosmetic surgery, just to name a few.
Plastic surgery aims to correct dysfunctional areas of the body and, by definition, is reconstructive in nature.