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 At all times, the best minds entertained the idea of preserving
the beauty and youth of human body, and there are many records of bold attempts
to translate this idea into reality, from scientifically consistent methods to pure
magic and the search for the legendary philosopher's stone. Finally, in the
twentieth century, we witnessed the inception of plastic surgery, which can be
regarded as a scientific equivalent of the philosopher's stone, and a huge leap
in the field of cosmetology and aesthetic medicine. However, there is a huge
fly in this perfect ointment.
Plastic surgery: a Game of Chance?
Many plastic surgeons' patients believe that any change of
appearance, however slight and insubstantial, will improve their lives dramatically.
However, these optimistic expectations are not always fulfilled. One major risk
of plastic surgery is that the results are never guaranteed. A doctor can
speculate how the surgery will make the patient look after swelling and
bruising subside, but the result is often different than what the patient
planned. For example, a facelift might leave the patient feeling as though her
skin looks too artificial, a nose job might leave the nose crooked, and breast
implants might be larger or smaller than anticipated. This often results in
further surgeries to fix the problem, resulting in wasted money and more
exposure to other risks.
Moreover, beside thwarted expectations, there is one more
important consideration to keep in mind - plastic surgery is not for everybody,
as there are contraindications to aesthetic correction procedure. In addition,
almost every plastic correction procedure involves some post-surgery treatment
or rehabilitation, which is essential for obtaining the expected result and
avoiding complications.
Risks and Complications Associated with Specific Procedures
Cosmetic breast augmentation surgery enlarges small-breasted
women, lifts sagging breast after weight loss or childbirth or reconstructs
breast for women who've undergone mastectomies for breast cancer. Like any
surgical procedure, you face the possibility of risks and complications after
getting breast surgery. Infections around the surgical site are possible
complications from breast surgery. Staphylococcus bacterial infections often
develop four to six weeks after breast surgery. Staph bacteria live harmlessly
on the skins surface but cause infection when skin when skin is broken or
punctured. The infection appears at the incision site of breast surgery
recipients. To prevent staph infections, surgeons scrub skin with a
disinfectant before piercing skin and provide instructions on cleaning your
wounds, suggesting antibacterial soaps for you to use. If antibiotics, topical
ointment and noninvasive treatments don't get rid of the infection, surgeons
remove implants for a few months and prescribe new antibiotics. You undergo
breast surgery once the infection clears up to put in new implants.
Blood clots are common problem with any surgical procedure
including cosmetic surgery. Blood clots occur when you leave part of your body
immobile for a long period of time, such as when recouping from your surgery.
Once the area has been immobile for too long, blood begins to pool. The pooling
then turns into a clot. As long as the clot breaks up slowly there is no
problem. However, if the full clot dislodges itself, it can travel through the
entire body until it reaches the heart or brain causing a heart attack or
stroke.
Temporary numbness is common at the site of any surgical
incision. With regard to most types of plastic surgery, permanent numbness is
rare. However, after any type of breast surgery, permanent numbness is much
more of a concern.
Some tissue death, or necrosis, is expected after any
surgical procedure. However, the amount of necrosis can increase dramatically
if you are a smoker. Smoking decreases the amount of blood that is carried to
tissues near the surgical site, which can lead to more necrosis during surgery.
An inevitable part of making holes and cuts in the skin is
that they leave scars behind, an ironic fact for a type of surgery meant to
promote beauty. Surgeons try to hide scars by performing surgery
laparoscopically (through a small incision in the skin) to limit how noticeable
the scar will be. Still, despite surgeons' best efforts, many procedures such
as breast implantation and reduction can leave scars that are noticeable when
viewed from a certain angle.
Abdominal liposuction is a type of cosmetic surgery to
remove excess fat from the abdomen. Liposuction is a serious surgery that
requires local or general anesthesia and a significant recovery time. The side
effects of abdominal liposuction depend on overall health, the technique used
and the amount of fat removed.
Bruising of the skin of the abdomen, especially around the
incision sites, is a common side effect of abdominal liposuction and usually
resolves in 5 to 10 days. Liposuction techniques include flushing the body with
large amounts of fluid, some of which may be retained and cause swelling. Numbness
and tingling of the skin and tissues of the abdomen is common after liposuction
and may persist for several weeks after surgery. Abdominal liposuction may
result in pain in the muscles and organs of the abdomen and may be worse at the
sites of the incisions. The skin on the abdomen may take on a scarred, wrinkled
or saggy appearance after abdominal liposuction and additional surgery may be
required to remove excess skin. Bacterial infections of the skin or internal
organs can be caused by bacterial contamination of the surgical instruments or
of the incisions after surgery. Internal bleeding or bleeding from the wound
sites can be caused by blood vessels or internal organs being nicked by a
surgical instrument or by loosening of the stitches or staples closing the
incisions.
Plastic surgery is becoming increasingly common as
procedures that were once meant to help those with deformities and other skin
damage are adapted for other purposes. While technically, plastic surgery
refers to surgery dealing with natural problems or damage, the term has become
synonymous with cosmetic surgery and vanity surgeries such as nose jobs,
facelifts, lip alterations and breast alterations. In either form, plastic
surgery carries significant risks of serious side effects.
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