Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns. While reconstructive surgery aims to reconstruct a part of the body or improve its functioning, cosmetic surgery aims at improving the appearance of it.
The skull is a bone structure that forms the head in vertebrates. It supports the structures of the face and provides a protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, these two parts are the neurocranium and the viscerocranium that includes the mandible as its largest bone. The skull forms the anterior-most portion of the skeleton and is a product of cephalisation—housing the brain, and several sensory structures such as the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. In humans these sensory structures are part of the facial skeleton.
Disfigurement is the state of having one's appearance deeply and persistently harmed medically, such as from a disease, birth defect, or wound. General societal attitudes towards disfigurement have varied greatly across cultures and over time, with cultures possessing strong social stigma against it often causing psychological distress to disfigured individuals. Alternatively, many societies have regarded some forms of disfigurement in a medical, scientific context where someone having ill will against the disfigured is viewed as anathema. In various religious and spiritual contexts, disfigurement has been variously described as being a punishment from the divine for sin, as being caused by supernatural forces of hate and evil against the good and just, which will be later atoned for, or as being without explanation per se with people just having to endure.
Facial feminization surgery (FFS) is a set of reconstructive surgical procedures that alter typically male facial features to bring them closer in shape and size to typical female facial features. FFS can include various bony and soft tissue procedures such as brow lift, rhinoplasty, cheek implantation, and lip augmentation.
Male-to-female sex reassignment surgery involves reshaping the male genitals into a form with the appearance of, and as far as possible, the function of female genitalia. Before any surgery, patients usually undergo feminizing hormone therapy, though this is not a requirement. There are associated surgeries patients may elect to undergo, including vaginoplasty, facial hair removal, facial feminization surgery, breast augmentation and various other procedures.
A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy, is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure used to give a more youthful facial appearance. There are multiple surgical techniques and exercise routines. Surgery usually involves the removal of excess facial skin, with or without the tightening of underlying tissues, and the redraping of the skin on the patient's face and neck. Exercise routines tone underlying facial muscles without surgery. Surgical facelifts are effectively combined with eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) and other facial procedures and are typically performed under general anesthesia or deep twilight sleep.
Chin augmentation using surgical implants can alter the underlying structure of the face, providing better balance to the facial features. The specific medical terms mentoplasty and genioplasty are used to refer to the reduction and addition of material to a patient's chin. This can take the form of chin height reduction or chin rounding by osteotomy, or chin augmentation using implants. Improving the facial balance is commonly performed by enhancing the Chin using an implant inserted through the mouth. The goal is to provide a suitable projection of the chin as well as the correct height of the chin which is in balance with the other facial features.
Dr. 90210 is an American reality television series focusing on plastic surgery in the wealthy suburb of Beverly Hills, California. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2008 on E!. Dr. 90210 gets its name from the zip code of the core of Beverly Hills. A seventh season started in 2020 with an all-female surgeon cast.
Lip augmentation is a type of procedure that aims to increase lip fullness through enlargement using fillers such as hyaluronic acid, fat or implants.
"Sanguinarium" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. "Sanguinarium" was written by newcomers Vivian and Valerie Mayhew and directed by Kim Manners, and is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. It first aired in the United States on November 10, 1996 on the Fox network, earning a Nielsen rating of 11.1 and being seen by 19.85 million viewers upon its initial broadcast.
Bridalplasty was an American reality television series which premiered on the E! network, on November 28, 2010. The show features 12 women who compete to win a wedding and transformative plastic surgery procedures. The series concluded on January 30, 2011, after one season.
Ethnic plastic surgery, or ethnic modification, is plastic surgery intended to change an individual's appearance to look more or less like a particular race or ethnicity. Popular plastic surgery procedures which may have an ethnically-motivated component include rhinoplasty and blepharoplasty.
Good Work is an American plastic surgery-themed talk show that premiered on April 14, 2015 on the E! cable network. Announced in March 2015, the one-hour roundtable television series features hosts RuPaul, Dr. Terry Dubrow and Sandra Vergara who discuss the "good work" and the "not so good work" of Hollywood celebrities regarding the quality of their plastic surgery.
Tobias "Toby" Sheldon was a German songwriter who became a television reality star noted for having paid considerable amounts for plastic surgery in order to resemble singer Justin Bieber. He appeared on the television shows Botched on the E! network and My Strange Addiction on TLC. Some experts argued that Sheldon's obsession was a case of body dysmorphia. This topic was discussed in depth during his appearance alongside Justin Jedlica on the talk show Bethenny.
Korean beauty standards have become a well-known feature of Korean culture. In 2015, a global survey by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons placed South Korea in the top ten of countries who had the highest rate of cosmetic surgeries. Korean beauty standards prioritize a slim figure, small face, v-shaped jaw, pale skin, straight eyebrows, flawless skin, and larger eyes. Beauty standards for the eyes include aegyo-sal, which is a term used in Korea referring to the small fatty deposits underneath the eyes that are said to give a person a more youthful appearance. East Asian blepharoplasty is a surgery to create double eyelids which makes the eyes appear larger. Korean beauty standards have been influenced largely by those in the media, including actresses, TV personalities, and K-pop stars. The physical appearance of K-pop idols has greatly impacted the beauty standards in Korea.
Jessica Alves is a Brazilian-British television personality noted for having undergone dozens of plastic surgeries to alter her appearance.
Fatemeh Khishvand, known by her Instagram username of Sahar Tabar, is an Iranian influencer who is known for her supposed use of cosmetic surgery in images of herself posted to Instagram. It was rumored that she had altered her face through as many as fifty plastic surgeries. Tabar was interviewed on Iranian national television in October 2019 after she was arrested on charges including blasphemy and illegally obtaining money. Tabar was sentenced to ten years imprisonment in December 2020.
Culture of cosmetic surgery is the attitude towards cosmetic changes via surgery over time, though this attitude depends on the purpose. WWI left thousands of soldiers with unprecedented levels of facial damage, creating a massive need for reconstruction of facial features, as such Harold Gillies of New Zealand developed and tested methods to restore function and structure to the faces of soldiers and these processes rapidly gained popularity. Throughout the 1940s and 50s fashion and personal appearance was emphasized more strongly in the United States. As ideas about what was considered beautiful changed, services, products, and techniques were developed to help consumers meet those standards if they so chose. People may undertake plastic surgery in the modern era due to their mental state and lack of confidence in their own bodies. Individuals may turn to getting something changed about themselves via surgery because it requires less mental/emotional work and reduces body dysmorphia.
Oli London is a British Internet personality, singer and actor known for their transracial identity and for having had multiple ethnic plastic surgery procedures to make them look like the BTS singer Jimin since 2013. Born in England, they started being interested in South Korean culture after arriving in the country in 2013 to teach English. London has been considered a controversial figure but is also credited for the rise of discussions on the right to identify as transracial; their activism for the transracial community has been praised, while their racial transition is deemed by critics as offensive.