Plastic or cosmetic surgery is increasingly growing in popularity, with about two million surgical procedures happening in the United States yearly. In the last 10 years, cosmetic surgery has reportedly increased by 98 percent, which is notable, considering that most are self-financed.
Nowadays, women are not the only patients of cosmetic surgery. Men are also part of the movement, making up about 150,000 plastic surgeries yearly. The following are the most popular plastic surgery procedures.
Popular cosmetic surgery procedures
Liposuction
Liposuctio, a surgery to remove (suction) fats from some regions of the body to give a slimmer and shapelier figure, has two types.
The most popular type, tumescent liposuction, entails infusing a saline solution, a blood vessel-constricting drug and a numbing substance into the focus area. This mixture and fat are drawn out of the body with cannulas, a small hollow metal device. Infusing the liquid causes temporary fluid retention that should disappear in the following days.
In Ultrasonic-Assisted Liposuction (UAL), the cannula generates ultrasonic energy to dissolve fat to make suctioning possible. UAL is more threatening than tumescent liposuction: longer surgery time and the chance of internal and external burns.
Breast augmentation
People undergo this surgery for several reasons: to increase breast size, to replace an absent breast or to make irregular breasts similar. Women whose breasts fail to develop during puberty due to a condition called congenital macromastia can also opt for breast augmentation.
Up to 350,000 breast augmentation surgeries are performed yearly. People are increasingly choosing silicone implant (once banned for health threats) over saline because of its realistic feel.
Blepharoplasty
The process of reshaping the eyelid can be done for two reasons: cosmetic results or to enhance vision in patients whose eyelids block proper vision. Excess or sagging skin can impair vision and may cause the patient to look older.
Chronically puffy or wrinkly lower eyelids can be reduced with blepharoplasty to give a more youthful look. The procedure also involves removing fatty “bags” under the eyes.
Abdominoplasty
Sometimes called tummy tuck or lower body lift, abdominoplasty eliminates the surplus skin from the abdominal region and tightens the remaining skin.
The procedure is becoming increasingly popular, especially among women who have extra skin following pregnancy or after remarkable weight loss from bariatric surgery. The ideal patient for this procedure is not one with surplus fat accumulation in the abdomen, but excessive skin hanging from the belly region.
Breast reduction
Breast reduction is one of the few cosmetic surgeries that insurance sometimes pays for because the advantages go beyond the cosmetic or superficial benefits.
Women with heavy or excessively large breasts usually have issues getting properly fitted clothing and suffer chronic back pain and poor posture. Normally, the surgery will cut down the size and weight of the breast to alleviate back pain and correct posture.
The surgery is the lasting solution for imbalanced breast, and most patients can resume normal activities within two weeks.
Final note
Other popular cosmetic surgery procedures include rhytidectomy, forehead lift, gynecomastia treatment and rhinoplasty.
Request an appointment here: https://www.yalekadeskymd.com or call Yale M. Kadesky, M.D. at (760) 741-5466 for an appointment in our Escondido office.