Cosmetic Surgery For Dummies

R. Merrel Olesen, Marie B.V. Olesen

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780764578359
• eBook ISBN: 9781118070024
• Edition: 1

Cosmetic surgery is one of today's hottest topics. From daytime talk shows and popular magazines to conversations at the salon, it seems that almost everyone has had it, is thinking about it, or knows someone who is getting it. Statistics show more and more women—and men—are having cosmetic surgery. And with all the options now available, it's important to be fully informed before you make any decisions about having a procedure.

Now, Cosmetic Surgery For Dummies is here to guide you through today's top procedures, candidly addressing both the benefits and the risks. R. Merrel Olesen, MD, the medical director of the La Jolla Cosmetic Surgery Centre, and Marie B.V. Olesen, a nationally known cosmetic surgery consultant, give you the tools you need to:

• Decide if surgery is right for you
• Find a qualified surgeon
• Set realistic expectations
• Evaluate the costs
• Enhance your recovery and results

This plain-English guide shows you how to take advantage of all the advances in cosmetic surgery while avoiding the pitfalls that could compromise your safety or the quality of your result. From implants to liposuction to Botox, you'll understand the right questions to ask your doctor, how to prepare for surgery (both physically and financially), and the best ways to influence the healing process. You'll also:

• Discover the latest surgery techniques and medications
• Understand the different surgeon specializations
• Sort through the various non-surgical facial treatments
• Evaluate your post-op care options
• Cope with complications
• Deal with family, friends, and coworkers before and after surgery

Complete with lists of questions to ask before surgery and top Web sites for cosmetic surgery information, Cosmetic Surgery For Dummies is a practical, friendly guide that will help you say hello to a new you!

Part I

Considering Cosmetic Surgery

In this part . . .

**IN a DROPCAP**

Cosmetic surgery is growing by leaps and bounds as medical science progresses and more and more people decide to do something about outsides they don’t feel match their insides. In this part, I tell you about the current cosmetic surgery boom and fill you in on making the very big decision to take the leap. Because cosmetic surgery is real surgery and comes with the risks that are part and parcel of going under the knife, I also tell you how to keep yourself as safe as possible.

Chapter 1

Entering the Golden Age of Cosmetic Surgery

In This Chapter

Defining the types of plastic surgery

Understanding cosmetic surgery’s popularity

Looking at who’s having cosmetic surgery

Evaluating your motivations

Going shopping for a cosmetic surgeon

Taking a realistic approach to recovery

Like any golden age, cosmetic surgery’s golden age is flourishing and creating happiness among its devotees. The combination of science, society, and psychology has created this renaissance. New techniques, improved materials, and better training have catapulted cosmetic surgery (once reserved for the famous, the brave, and the rich) into the mainstream.

Cosmetic surgery is now safer, easier, and more affordable than ever before. Out of the closet, it has taken center stage in the self-improvement world and is being embraced by millions every year. Some patients are choosing facial surgery — eyelifts, facelifts, nose reshaping, and chin implants. Other patients are changing the contours of their bodies with liposuction, breast surgery, tummy tucks, and other even arm and thigh lifts.

Cosmetic surgery is real surgery, so you need to be an informed consumer. We cover the subject from A to Z. You can benefit greatly from approaching your decision as a serious one and taking the time to fully use the tools presented in this book.

Putting the “Plastic” in Surgery

You’ve heard the terms plastic surgery , cosmetic surgery, and reconstructive surgery bandied about, and you’re confused. No wonder. You’ll see both medical and marketing uses of these terms and when you see them, you need to know what they mean.

When you hear the word plastic , you probably think of the modern material that’s molded into myriad products — patio chairs, kids’ toys, kitchen glasses, and airline knives and forks. The list goes on and on. This plastic isn’t what we’re talking about. Actually, the word comes from the Greek word “plastikos” or the later Latin word “plasticus,” both of which mean “to shape or mold.” Plastic surgeons shape or mold your body into new and more pleasing forms.

Another form of this word, the suffix -plasty, is used in the names of many plastic surgery procedures. In the mid-1800s, the medical term for nose reshaping came to be rhinoplasty — rhino (for nose) plus plasty (to describe the shaping technique). Other examples include abdominoplasty (reshaping of your abdomen), mammoplasty (changing the shape of your breasts), and blepharoplasty (reshaping of your eyelids).

As defined by the American Medical Association, the medical specialty of plastic surgery includes two subcategories of procedures:

Cosmetic: Cosmetic surgery is performed to reshape normal structures of the body to improve the patient’s appearance and self-esteem.

Reconstructive: Reconstructive surgery is performed on abnormal features of the body (usually caused by congenital defects, developmental abnormalities, infection, tumors, or disease). It is generally done to improve function, but may also be done to approximate a normal appearance.

Cosmetic surgery improves form, whereas reconstructive surgery improves function.

Defining cosmetic surgery

The primary purpose of cosmetic surgery is to improve your form, or appearance. In cosmetic surgery (sometimes called aesthetic surgery ), you take a normal or near-normal part of the body and alter it to make it look better. For example, a young man with a weak chin line seeks cosmetic surgery to alter his profile. Or a 60-year-old woman with a face that is normal for a 60-year-old decides to get a facelift to improve her appearance.

The most common cosmetic surgery procedures are the following:

Liposuction

Breast surgery

Nose reshaping

Eyelid lift

Tummy tuck

Facelift

The rate at which these procedures are performed has been growing exponentially for many years. From 1997 to 2003, the number of surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures grew from 2.1 million to 8.3 million, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. If this keeps up, you won’t have a neighbor or coworker who hasn’t has something lifted, tightened, augmented, or filled.

Cosmetic surgery and cosmetic surgeons are not synonymous. If you or a loved one is considering a cosmetic surgery procedure, you really need to know whether the surgeon you’re consulting is trained in plastic surgery. Some doctors, even good ones in other fields, hoping to blur the boundaries of training and experience, run ads calling themselves cosmetic surgeons. This is perfectly legal in many places. They may be wonderful physicians, dermatologists or OB-GYNs, for example, but they never had specialized training in plastic surgery, never did a residency, and so are not as qualified to give you the best result. (Chapter 3 tells you more about this topic.)

Ask, ask, and then ask again to verify that the person who will do the surgery you want is trained in the specialty of plastic surgery or a surgical specialty that includes training in the procedure you want.

Understanding reconstructive surgery

During reconstructive surgery, the surgeon works with a body part that is not within a range of normal appearance to make it look more normal. Generally disease, deformity, or trauma prompts patients to seek reconstructive surgery. The repair of a cleft lip or reconstruction of breasts after cancer is considered reconstructive surgery, not cosmetic surgery, because the body part that is being improved didn’t start out in a range of normal appearance; rather, it’s being brought back to a normal appearance or function.

Other common reconstructive procedures include facial reconstruction after serious accidents and hand surgery for work-related injuries or degenerative diseases such as arthritis.

Blending cosmetic and reconstructive techniques

Sometimes the cosmetic and reconstructive techniques are combined in one procedure that improves both appearance and function. An example is a rhino/septoplasty, in which the rhino portion of the surgery shapes the outer nose and the septo portion improves the breathing function of the inner nose.

Looking Into Cultural Ideals about Looks

Cosmetic surgery deals primarily with the “ide...

Table of contents

• Title
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part I : Considering Cosmetic Surgery
• Chapter 1: Entering the Golden Age of Cosmetic Surgery
• Chapter 2: Making a Decision about Cosmetic Surgery
• Chapter 3: Looking Out for Your Safety
• Part II : Preparing for Cosmetic Surgery
• Chapter 4: Prequalifying: Beginning Your Search for a Surgeon
• Chapter 5: Choosing Your Surgeon
• Chapter 6: Getting Ready Financially
• Chapter 7: Getting Ready Physically
• Part III : Exploring Your Options
• Chapter 8: Sprucing Up Your Face without Surgery
• Chapter 9: Finding Out about Facial Cosmetic Surgery
• Chapter 10: Winning by a Nose: Rhinoplasty
• Chapter 11: Getting the Skinny on Liposuction
• Chapter 12: Dejunking Your Trunk: Body Contouring Procedures
• Chapter 13: Restructuring Your Body after Massive Weight Loss
• Chapter 14: Increasing Your Assets: Breast Augmentation
• Chapter 15: Getting a Pick-Me-Up: Breast Lift
• Chapter 16: Streamlining Your Form with Breast Reduction
• Part IV : Going for It: Preparation and Recovery
• Chapter 17: Assessing the Risks and Preparing for Surgery
• Chapter 18: Recovering after Surgery
• Chapter 19: Finding Happy Endings
• Part V : The Part of Tens
• Chapter 20: Ten (Or So) Myths about Cosmetic Surgery
• Chapter 21: Ten Questions to Ask Yourself before Pursuing Cosmetic Surgery
• Chapter 22: (Almost) Ten Ways to Get Great Results from Cosmetic Surgery
• Appendix: Internet Resources