The Facts On Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery has made extraordinary advances both in cosmetic procedures (helping erase the marks, wrinkles and sags of encroaching age) and reconstructive procedures (correcting a deformity or burn surgery) in recent years.

In the search for the body beautiful, many women and men have opted for some sort of cosmetic surgery to get rid of unwanted fat, smooth out wrinkles or remove a mole or other beauty mark. Some of the most popular procedures performed today include liposuction, laser facial resurfacing, face and eyelid lifts, and rhinoplasty. Whether it is cosmetic or reconstructive, all surgery carries uncertainty and risk.

Liposuction
During the last decade, liposuction, also known as lipoplasty, has become the most common cosmetic surgical procedure in the U.S. Liposuction can be very effective in eliminating collections of fat in various parts of the body. The most common areas for liposuction are the thighs, abdomen and "love handles."

During the procedure, pockets of fat are suctioned out from the body with a tube and vacuum device. For removing larger volumes of fat or for fibrous body areas, ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty (UAL) may be used. UAL is a new and less common procedure in which an ultrasound probe is inserted beneath the skin to "liquify" the fat before it is suctioned.