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Today, for better or worse, appearance matters.  An unsatisfactory appearance, which can be caused by what may seem to others like “small” deviations, is liable to result in at least a small degree of social and other consequences, and the effects can often be devastating.

An individual’s appearance is determined most commonly by aging and genetics.  When it comes to genetics, naturally, every person’s experience is unique.  Everyone’s features are different, and this in itself can be cause for concern for some people.  Heredity determines the features of both the face and body.  While most people may think that body shape can be completely controlled via diet and exercise, the fact is that some people accumulate fat more in some areas than others.  In other words, even with a healthy diet and rigorous, targeted exercise, many people find it difficult to eliminate certain problem areas of excess fat; common ones include the abdomen, thighs, and below the chin.  Aging, of course, is something that affects everyone, and time makes its mark on virtually every area of the body.

In some cases, a cosmetic procedure is the only way to tackle these issues effectively.  This isn’t as bad a situation as it may appear, though, as cosmetic surgery is actually quite widely practiced, and continues to become more common as technologies and techniques continue to move forward.  Pretty much any aesthetic problem can be rectified thanks to surgical methods.

Even though technology and education have a major impact today, cosmetic surgery is actually a very old concept.  It is thought to have first been developed in India in approximately 2000 BC.  It wasn’t until the advent of the Hollywood film industry, though, that cosmetic surgery began to enter the popular consciousness; as today, many performers gained their famous features at least in part through cosmetic surgery.  Now, a wide variety of procedures are practiced around the world, and are priced in such a way that millions of people have been able to undergo cosmetic surgery in recent years.

In 2008 in the United States alone, over 1,760,000 cosmetic surgical procedures were performed (all data provided by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery).  Although women accounted for 90 percent of all recipients, the number of men undergoing cosmetic surgical procedures continues to increase, which may be at least partly because corresponding stigmas have become less pronounced and males are now expected to pay more attention to their looks as well. The most popular cosmetic surgeries are breast enhancement, liposuction, blepharoplasty (cosmetic eyelid surgery), abdominoplasty, which is also known as the “tummy tuck”, and breast reduction, while procedures most often performed on male patients are liposuction, rhinoplasty, which is cosmetic surgery for the nose, blepharoplasty, gynecomastia, or male breast reduction surgery, and hair transplantation.

People aged 35-50 years are most likely to undergo cosmetic surgery; this is due to the fact that aging is the biggest factor which leads to people seeking cosmetic surgery, perhaps because genetics or features present from birth are usually taken care of earlier than this.  Over 70% of people state that they are not embarrassed to say that they have received a cosmetic surgical procedure, meaning that cosmetic surgery is accepted by society.

Cosmetic surgical procedures themselves take varying amounts of time.  By the same token, the amount of time required to achieve full recovery from a specific operation is directly related to the nature of the operation itself; some procedures call for no more than two weeks of rest before the patient can get back to his or her previous daily activities, while some procedures can involve months of complete rest.  During the recovery period, the patient has to adhere to the instructions detailed by the surgeon in terms of how to care for the area (which may involve using dressings, compression garments, ointments and so on), which activities to avoid (strenuous exercise or physical activity usually has to be ceased for at least two weeks), wardrobe considerations (loose-fitting clothing is usually recommended following any type of surgery; following a face lift, the patient should wear button-down shirts as opposed to pull-over articles of clothing such as t-shirts and sweatshirts, as these can cause irritation to the recovering face when being put on), as well as dietary and similar issues (smoking must be ceased following any type of surgery).

Any type of surgery involves some chance of complications.  Scarring will result from any method which requires incisions.  Swelling may remain in the short term, but swelling or irritation that remains or worsens beyond the period indicated by the surgeon indicates a problem.  Some individuals will suffer an allergic reaction to anaesthetic, which is used in most surgical procedures.  Cardiovascular problems and other medical issues can prevent people from undergoing elective surgeries such as cosmetic surgery.  Consult with a surgeon if you would like to find out whether you are a suitable candidate for cosmetic surgery.

Despite the arrival of new types of procedures in the area of cosmetic surgery, breast enhancement continues to be one of the most common procedures since the early 1900s.  More than 350,000 breast enhancement procedures were performed in 2008 in the US alone, according to data collected by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, which attests to its popularity.

 There are a variety of reasons why a woman might think about breast enhancement surgery.  This type of surgical procedure is commonly employed in order to rectify an asymmetry of the breasts, as well as to reconstruct one or both breasts after a mastectomy or other surgical procedure; the term “breast reconstruction surgery” is usually used in cases such as these.  Surgery is also commonly used to deal with hereditary conditions affecting the breasts including micromastia, a condition involving the severe underdevelopment of the breasts, or other conditions involving the absence of breasts in females.

 Most commonly, though, the majority of women who undergo breast augmentation surgery do so for purely cosmetic reasons.  Detrimental social effects are commonly associated with self-consciousness about one’s looks, and this includes the appearance of the breasts.  A useful method for preventing or correcting these issues, therefore, is to address the root cause of the problem.  Thus, it’s not surprising that breast augmentation is such a popular option.

 There are many different approaches and techniques in use in terms of breast enhancement surgery, which differ with regard to their appropriateness for the individual dependent upon several factors such as physical characteristics, prior operation history, the degree of augmentation desired.  Breast augmentation surgery involves the use of prostheses or implants which are placed underneath either the mammary tissue or the muscle.  Two basic kinds of breast implants exist: silicone implants and saline implants.

 Of these two types, saline implants are the less common one, and are comprised of a shell made of a silicone elastomer which, after initially being implanted during the breast augmentation procedure, is filled with a saline (salt and water) solution.  The fact that saline implants are filled after insertion makes them slightly more versatile than silicone implants.  By the same token, saline implants are generally appropriate only for less drastic procedures.  They are also somewhat vulnerable to wrinkling and rippling, and they are considered to be more obvious to the touch compared to silicone implants, although this point is debatable.

 Silicone implants, meanwhile, are filled with a silicone gel, while having a silicone elastomer shell not overly different from that of the saline implant.  Silicone implants, like saline implants, have been around since at least the 1960s, although the constitution of silicone implants has seen changes incrementally over time.  The silicone implants on the market today are quite different from the first generation; the gel in use now is semi-solid, and this virtually erases the leaking issues that previous implants, which used a liquid-like gel, often suffered from.

 Different techniques are used for the surgery itself.  The most common method for breast augmentation surgery is the inframammary incision method.  This method makes use of an incision made in the area just below the breast, called the inframammary area.  An implant can be inserted through this incision.  The inframammary incision technique is the least risky of any type of breast enhancement operation, and the scars left afterward are usually well concealed underneath the breast afterward.

 The periareolar incision method makes use of an incision along the border of the areola.  Silicone implants are not appropriate for this type of procedure, as the incision is too small to accommodate them.  However, this procedure does permit the surgeon to reposition the breast entirely, which may be desired by the patient in some cases.

 In some cases, the patient may desire the surgeon to to make the incision in an area more distant from the breast; this is also sometimes requested by individuals who are worried about scarring appearing on or around the breast.  The transaxillary incision is an incision made below the armpit, while the transumbilical incision is an incision in the area of the navel, which can be performed at the same time as a tummy tuck.  In both cases, an endoscope may be employed in order to help with the correct placement of the implant.  Both of these procedures are usually only performed with the use of saline implants.

 As with any type of surgical procedure, there are some risks involved in breast augmentation surgery.  Also, after undergoing this type of procedure, the patient will normally take at least six weeks to fully recover, during which time strenuous exercise and other physical activity is to be avoided in order to make sure that the procedure is a success in the end.