Plastic Surgery Or Cosmetic Surgery - What Is The Difference?

The media often uses the two terms, cosmetic and plastic surgery, interchangeably. You hear your friends talking about them and you hear people at work discussing them. You hear them mentioned on television and you read about them online. But are they really the same thing?

If you have a nose job did you have a plastic procedure or a cosmetic procedure? What about if you have breast augmentation? If you had your nose surgically altered just so it would look better, than you had cosmetic surgery. However if your nose was injured or damaged in an accident and/or if you had trouble breathing then you had a plastic operation performed. The same can be said for your breasts. If you just wanted larger breasts then it was cosmetic. But if you lost one or both breasts to cancer and needed reconstructive work done then you had a plastic operation.

Plastic surgery can be broken down into two categories or branches. There is cosmetic surgery and there is reconstructive plastic surgery. The former is about beautifying a person's appearance and making them look better. On the other hand the latter can also be about enhancing a person's looks but it is also about reconstructing a part of their face or body that needs some help. Reconstructive surgery of a plastic nature is concerned about improving not just the look of an individual but also the function of the area involved. Reconstructive plastic surgery is often referred to as reconstructive surgery with the plastic word left out.

The number one goal of having reconstructive work is to restore the function to it. Referring back to the example about the nose job, a reconstructive procedure can make it possible for the person to breathe properly again while it can also improve the aesthetic appeal of the nose if that is an issue. Often those who have been hurt in an accident require help in both areas.

There are some parts of the globe where cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery are completely separate surgeries. They are performed separately and they are also given different names. Cosmetic surgery is thought of as a form of surgery that a patient chooses to have because they want to have it and not as something that they require for their health and well being. A cosmetic procedure is also referred to as non-essential surgery or elective surgery. A plastic operation is a form of surgery that is undertaken to reconstruct a feature after it has been altered for the worst due to an injury, a disease or an illness.

Understanding the correct terminology will make it easier for a person to express to their doctor as well as to their family and friends what it is they want to have done. The person will then know that they are using the terms correctly!