What Is The Difference Between Plastic Surgery & Cosmetic Surgery?
Question:
Are cosmetic and plastic surgery the same thing? Or do they have different meanings?
Quick Answer:
No, technically they are different. Plastic surgery is done whenever you are dealing with something that is considered to be abnormal and interferes with normal functioning.
Most abnormalities are due to birth defects (e.g. a cleft lip which affects speech), disease (e.g. cancer) or injury (e.g. a broken nose).
These types of abnormalities will require plastic reconstructive surgery in order to allow that person to live a normal life again.
Cosmetic surgeries are used solely to improve the way you look, and not because there is anything medically wrong with a person.
For example, breast implants, nose reshaping and a tummy tuck are all types of cosmetic surgery if you are only having those procedures done to make yourself look more attractive.
However, whilst there are differences between these two terms, a person can still undergo both types of surgeries. This will usually happen when a person has corrected an abnormality that allows them to function normally again, such as being able to speak properly, but then wants to improve the way they look to make themselves feel less self conscious about their appearance.
Well, that is the short answer which highlights the main differences. If you are interested in learning more about the differences please see the rest of this article, especially the section at the bottom of this page which highlights and summarises the main differences for you.
Main Article
Cosmetic surgery has experienced a tremendous surge in popularity these past years. No longer is it just the rich and famous that are going under the knife, but also regular everyday people who want to improve the way they look and feel.
What’s more, is that new techniques, equipment and better training have resulted in safer procedures of a higher quality and with better results than what people used to get in the past.
Today a good cosmetic surgeon will be able to improve your appearance and make any alterations look natural so that nobody will even know that you have had cosmetic surgery done.
All this comes at a far lower price than what cosmetic surgery used to cost, so it’s no wonder that more and more people are turning to cosmetic surgery.
Some of the most common cosmetic surgery procedures people undergo include face lifts, eye lifts, nose reshaping, liposuction, breast surgery and tummy tucks.
Basically, if you want to change something about the way you look, then there is a good chance that cosmetic surgery can change it for you.
However, it is important to remember that despite the numerous advances in cosmetic surgery procedures, there is always a risk anytime you have a surgical operation done.
So it wise to become aware of the risks associated with a particular procedure, before you decide to go ahead with it. If you are interested in learning more about such risks, please visit the cosmetic surgery section here.
For the rest of this article, we will tell you what the difference is between the terms plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery.
Plastic Surgery
The words plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery tend to be used interchangeably depending on where you are.
For example, in America most people say plastic surgery, while in Europe they say cosmetic surgery. However, both of these terms have slightly different meanings.
The term plastic surgery can be a bit misleading, as it doesn’t actually involve the use of plastic as most people think of it.
In fact “plastic surgery” comes from the Greek word “plastikos” which means to shape or to mould. A plastic surgeon is therefore someone who shapes or moulds your body to make it look different.
Another form of this word is “plasty” which again means to reshape. So rhinoplasty means reshaping of the nose and abdominoplasty means reshaping of the abdomen.
Any time you see “plasty” on the end of a word, it is referring to a particular part of the body being reshaped.
In the medical world, whenever you hear the term “plastic surgery” technically it is referring to any type of medical procedure which involves changing the appearance of something which looks abnormal or impedes upon normal functioning to make it look normal or function normal.
As a result, plastic surgery is generally done whenever someone has a birth defect they would like to correct, an injury they would like to correct like a broken nose or on people who would like to correct an abnormal body part after they have recovered from a disease such as breast cancer.
Plastic surgery can be further subdivided into two categories; cosmetic surgery and reconstructive (plastic) surgery.
Cosmetic Surgery
The primary function of cosmetic surgery is to change your physical appearance. This is done for aesthetic reasons, meaning there is nothing medically wrong with you but you are changing how you look so that you change how you feel about yourself.
Cosmetic surgery is carried out on people of all ages, although the most common age groups tend to be people in their 20′s through to their 40′s.
Some of the most popular surgical procedures are:
• Liposuction
• Breast augmentation
• Nose reshaping
• Eyelid lift
• Tummy tuck
• Facelift
If you want to have cosmetic surgery done you need to go to a qualified cosmetic surgeon. Some surgeons hoping to cash in on the demand for plastic surgery call themselves plastic or cosmetic surgeons, when in fact they are not and have little experience at it. Such surgeons are unlikely to give you the best results.
It is important to note, that fully qualified and board certified cosmetic surgeons can also practice non surgical procedures on patients.
These can include procedures such as Botox, laser skin resurfacing, microdermabrasion, chemical peels, restylane injections, collagen injections and various other procedures which are designed to provide anti-aging benefits.
However, even though a cosmetic surgeon may be able to do these procedures, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should go with them as usually your best option is to find a surgeon who specialises in one or two types of procedures.
The main reason for this is that by going to someone who specialises in something, you are likely to get the best results from them because they will usually be very good at doing that one thing.
The downside to this however, is that specialists usually tend to be much more expensive than other types of surgeons for this very reason. They are good at what they do and so tend to be in heavy demand. As a result, they can charge premium prices for their services.
But if you have to wait awhile and pay a bit more for the best result, then this is usually the best thing to do as it will benefit you the most in the long run.
Reconstructive Surgery
Whilst reconstructive surgery can help to improve a persons overall appearance, its primary aim is to improve the functioning of an area of the body that may have suffered disfigurement as a result of injury, accident or disease.
Reconstructive surgery will therefore help to make an abnormal region of the body as normal as possible, both in the way that it looks and the way that it functions.
For example, if someone’s face becomes disfigured after an accident, the work a surgeon carries out will be considered to be reconstructive surgery rather than cosmetic surgery, because the face didn’t start out disfigured and is being brought back to a normal appearance through the use of surgical techniques.
Sometimes cosmetic and reconstructive surgery can be combined. For example, rhino/septoplasty involves shaping the outer part of the nose (cosmetic) and improving the breathing function of the inner part of the nose (reconstructive).
In such cases, you will usually find that your health insurance policy will pay for the cost of any reconstructive procedures that you undergo. That is of course, providing you have that type of coverage in your insurance policy to begin with.
But for purely cosmetic procedures, very rarely will you find that your insurance company will pay for it.
So, What Is The Difference?
Many people assume that there is no difference between the terms plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery, which is why most people in the general public will use either of these terms to refer to the same thing.
However, there is a difference between these terms and if you are thinking of becoming involved in the medical field then it is important to understand these differences.
But if you are just thinking of having surgery to change your appearance, then using either plastic or cosmetic surgery is fine as almost all surgeons will know what you are really referring to.
So to help make things a bit clearer, lets summarise the main points in this article and highlight the differences between these terms.
First, we start with plastic surgery.
Plastic surgery involves reshaping a part of the body that is considered to be abnormal either as a result of birth, injury or disease.
Reconstructive surgery is a type of plastic surgery and is usually what people say when they carry out a procedure that’s purpose is not solely cosmetic in nature.
Technically, reconstructive plastic surgery would be the proper term to use.
Cosmetic surgery on the other hand, is designed to change the way a part of the body looks when nothing is considered to be wrong with it medically.
For example, a woman who undergoes breast augmentation to make her breasts larger would be said to undergo cosmetic surgery as she is having the procedure done solely with the intention of improving her looks.
If however, that woman suffered from breast cancer which affected the appearance of her breasts, she would undergo reconstructive plastic surgery in order to make her breasts look normal again from an abnormal state.
Finally, it is important to understand that all of these terms overlap. For example, if someones face became disfigured as a result of being burnt, that person may need to undergo reconstructive plastic surgery in order to rebuild their face from an abnormal state which currently interferes with normal functioning such as opening of the mouth or blinking of the eyes. In this case, skin grafts would probably be used.
However, eventually that person may choose to have further operations done on their face to improve the way they look. In such a case, subsequent operations could be considered cosmetic surgery as they are being done with the intention of improving that persons physical appearance.
