If you are considering surgery to change your appearance, you should know about plastic surgery from both a historical and current point of view.

Overview of Plastic Surgery

As an elective surgery, plastic surgery often doesn't get the objective coverage it should. Proponents crow about the positive effects while critics argue the opposite. Rarely does either group actually quote any undisputables about plastic surgery. Well, we do in this article.

Plastic surgery has a long history. Susrutha, an Indian surgeon, is the first known plastic surgeon, providing nose reconstruction services in the 8th century BC. The Romans were known to perform plastic surgery procedures to alter the appearance of ears. John P. Mettauer is generally agreed to be the first plastic surgeon in the United States, practicing in the 1820s. Plastikos is the base word for plastic surgery, meaning to mold something in Greek.

In more modern times, plastic surgery has come on strong as a method for changing appearances. The most common procedures with most popular first are liposuction, breast surgery, nose reshaping, eyelid lifts, tummy tucks and facelifts. In the last ten years, the number of plastic surgery procedures has quadrupled as the specialty has gained greater acceptance and publicity on television shows.

When one thinks about plastic surgery, most assume it is women having their appearances modified. In general, this is true. Roughly 80 percent of all plastic surgery patients are women, but the demographic is starting to change. While 20 percent of patients are now men, the figure is growing. Like women, men seek liposuction, nose reshaping, tummy tucks, and lifts. No, they don't go in for breast enlargements, although breast reductions are growing in popularity.

Somewhat controversial, teenagers are getting plastic surgery in growing numbers. Individuals under 18 most often focus on procedures related to the skin, with skin peels and microdermabrasion procedures accounting for more than half of all procedures.

Historically, plastic surgery was a relatively uncommon procedure. As this overview reveals, media exposure and lower prices mean that is simply no longer the case.