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Why Do
We Call It Plastic Surgery?
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The word "plastic" is derived from the Greek word
"plastikos" meaning "to mold or reshape" and reflects the medical practice that seeks to improve physical function and form. The general public often associates plastic surgery with cosmetic surgery. However, most plastic surgeons do both reconstructive as well as cosmetic surgeries. Reconstructive surgery deals with rebuilding or reshaping a body part lost or damaged by accident, disease or birth defects. Cosmetic surgeries are elective procedures done to improve the appearance of a body part.
Plastic surgeons are not limited to one particular part of the body, but deal with problems of the skin, soft tissue and muscle layer in every part of the body.
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Neither is the patient's age a limitation. Plastic surgeons not only treat babies born with birth defects, such as cleft lip and palate, but also treat elderly patients with such problems as skin cancers or open wounds. Plastics surgeons also treat all levels of severity. They see persons acutely ill in the hospital as well as persons who are not ill at all, but desiring an elective procedure.
Because of the wide scope of the plastic surgery practice, anyone can be a potential plastic surgery patient.
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