Plastic Surgery Frequently Asked Questions
What is a plastic surgeon?
Plastic surgeons specialize in repairing and reconstructing parts of your body, such as your skin, breasts, and face. Though plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery are sometimes lumped together, there’s anessential differencebetween them.
- Plastic surgeons are board-certified surgeons who repair the areas of your body that have been affected by diseases, disorders, injuries, and more.
- Cosmetic surgeons perform surgeries that change the appearance of your body, usually for aesthetic reasons, and may not have received credentials from the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
Many conditions and disorders cause scarring and tissue damage that a plastic surgeon treats. Some of the most common conditions treated by plastic surgeons include:
- breast reductionor reconstruction afterbreast cancer surgery
- burn scars
- cleft palates
- facial reconstruction
- scar revisions
You can contact your plastic surgeon for a complete list of conditions they treat.
Plastic surgeons perform a wide range of procedures to rebuild and repair tissue damaged by conditions and disorders. Some of the most common procedures performed by plastic surgeons include:
- aesthetics: any surgery performed to change your appearance
- breast reconstruction: the repair and reshaping of your breasts following major surgery, such as tumor removal
- craniofacial surgery: any reconstructive surgery of your face, ears, nose, and mouth
- scar revision: an operation to remove or make scars less visible
- skin grafts: a procedure to repair the appearance and functionality of your skin after suffering severe burns
You may contact your plastic surgeon for a complete list of procedures they perform.
There are many reasons why you may want to visit a plastic surgeon, such as getting scar revision after major surgery or breast reconstruction after adouble mastectomy. Whatever your reason, make sure your physician is certified as a plastic surgeon and that your procedure is one they regularly perform.