Plastic surgery occasionally gets treated with disdain, particularly that branch of the field that is known as cosmetic surgery, as if it were some sort of vain and unnecessary undertaking. Yet a surprisingly large amount of the business done by any plastic surgeon does not consist of vanity procedures but is used for far more serious, personal endeavors.
Many people find themselves disfigured to some degree through no fault of their own. Automobile collisions and accidents are one of the most frequent causes of this problem. Particularly in cases where people neglect to wear their seat belts or are motoring in older vehicles that do not have airbags, it is not uncommon for the driver and passengers to suffer facial damage as a result of being thrown forward into the dash and windshield area. While these sorts of injuries are not the exclusive outcome of automobile accidents, they do happen more than people may believe.
Burns victims can also benefit from certain cosmetic surgery procedures such as skin grafts, which can help patients that need to restore their appearance after a moderate to serious burn.
While trauma doctors will administer immediate medical treatment, the services of a good plastic surgeon are often needed afterwards in order to restore the patient to their original appearance. In many cases, this is as much an issue of providing mental and psychological healing as it is to reconstruct the original appearance of the patient. When an individual is scarred in an accident, it is typically a result of a horrifying and painful experience that is not easy to forget.
When the survivor of such an experience has to face the tangible evidence of that event as a constant reminder that it happened, it makes it even more difficult to overcome. In this regard, mending the physical scars is a crucial part of the entire healing process, without which many people are unable to move beyond the emotional impact of the experience which they have undergone. Being able to look in the mirror and see yourself, rather than some nightmarish stranger, is a precious gift that many accident survivors pray for continuously. In these circumstances, plastic and cosmetic surgery can have psychological benefits also.
Another important group should be mentioned. Our nation's veterans and those wounded in combat are numerous and are individuals who deserve the very best efforts that the nation's corps of plastic surgeons can offer. Repairing battle damage and lingering scars is more of an honor than an exercise in professional skill. Unfortunately, such injuries often take many, many years and numerous rounds of reconstruction before the results begin to show. Yet whatever can be done to erase the terrible disfigurement of war can and should be done in all cases whatsoever and many current techniques and procedures are being done for them and their service.
No matter how the need arises, however, it is important that the job be done properly and in such a fashion that it will endure. That is why every plastic surgeon in the country is board certified, so that the most modern and effective techniques will be used, and that the highest degree of attention will be paid to such important areas as infection prevention both in the office and during the at-home period of healing.
For many patients, plastic surgery is a long, hard road that depends on the services of a talented and very compassionate guide in order to arrive once again at a place that can be called home. But it is far from a "vanity" procedure. Many plastic and cosmetic surgeries also offer peace, recovery and psychological benefits from victims that suffer disfiguring from accidents that were no fault of their own.
If you would like more information on restorative plastic surgery or any of our other procedures, contact Dr. Patt today and get started looking and living a better life!
