While plastic surgery can be helpful for those suffering from physical abnormalities, the physical and emotional scarring that can follow may outweigh the positive outcome. There are many reasons to get plastic surgery and most of those reasons depend primarily on the individual views one has on it. Whether one has birth defects that are difficult to manage or hide, or perhaps they just want to conform to society’s view of what is beautiful, there are many reasons to get plastic surgery. With so many options and reasons for plastic surgery what does the future hold?
Whatever the reason, there are two different types of plastic surgery; cosmetic (or aesthetic) and reconstructive. Cosmetic procedures deal with parts of the body that people may not necessarily be happy with. Some examples of this would include: breast augmentation, liposuction, and rhinoplasty (or ‘nose job’). Something that people do not know is that some kinds of cosmetic surgery do not involve cutting or stitching at all! Some procedures such as hair removal and scar removal involve the use of lasers to perform these non-invasive procedures.
As a further example of cosmetic surgery, Monica Dooley from Chicago, Illinois works in a highly competitive and image-conscious industry and opted to have eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty). Monica was “...feeling that my eyes were looking very tired and heavy and making me look older than I actually am.” (Donat, 2007) After the surgery, Monica stated that her eyes have a brighter and younger look to them, and she could not have been happier with the results.
Unlike cosmetic surgery, reconstruction surgery deals primarily with people who are born with physical abnormalities, or have incurred some sort of trauma resulting in nasty scarring. Defects such as cleft lips and palates, burns, dog bites and even some kinds of cancers can be treated with reconstructive surgery.
Be it for vanity or for more serious reasons such as a horrible scar or debilitating...