Reconstructive vs. Cosmetic Plastic Surgery
When it comes to differentiating the terms reconstructive and cosmetic plastic surgery, many people are shocked since they consider them at least somewhat similar. Therefore, if you are not certain what the difference between them actually is, you are definitely not the only one. Although these two terms are closely related, there is a big difference between them, in their meaning, purpose, and the final result. Once you learn more about each of these two medical procedures, you will understand that the boundary between them is clear and exact. Here are some basic differences between reconstructive and plastic surgery.
What is reconstructive surgery?
Reconstructive surgery is a medical treatment done for purely medical reasons. It deals with body deformations caused by birth disorders, various diseases, trauma, burns, and so on. It is a surgical specialty which is used to reconstruct and realign certain parts of a person’s body. However, it doesn’t have an aesthetical purpose; it is here to fix some problems that do not allow our body to function properly.
For example, if one went through a trauma, during which their nose was broken and dislocated, this would automatically mean that this person is not able to breathe properly, which again endangers his or her entire life. If a doctor performs a rhinoplasty in order to fix a person’s nose and enhance the quality of his or her life, in this case, this would be a field of reconstructive surgery.
Which surgical procedures belong to reconstructive surgery?
Reconstructive surgery entails numerous segments, and each of them results in an enhanced lifestyle of a particular person. There are numerous examples of reconstructive surgery, such as breast reconstruction, burn repair surgery, extremity defect repair, lower extremity reconstruction, and so on. These help to restore one’s original physical state or improve it in certain ways in order to provide a normal way of living, whether by enhancing the functionality of body parts, or simply removing problematic parts.
What is cosmetic plastic surgery?
On the contrary, cosmetic plastic surgery is a medical procedure that is performed for purely aesthetical reasons. People who want to undertake such surgery don’t have any dysfunctional parts of their bodies; they only want to improve their physical appearance. Most importantly, while some people need to have their defects reconstructed, others can choose which part of the body they want to change and enhance. And this is what makes a large difference between these two branches of surgery. In fact, plastic surgery is a subtype of reconstructive surgery.
For instance, if a person wants to undergo a nose surgery only because he or she doesn’t like the shape of the nose, this would fall into the domain of cosmetic plastic surgery as it aims at contributing to your body’s overall aesthetic, rather than particular functionality.
How can the purpose of reconstructive surgery be defined?
Some of the most popular examples of cosmetic plastic surgery are breast enhancement, especially augmentation, facial and body contouring, as well and facial and skin rejuvenation, which includes Botox, liposuction, and so on. The trend of using cosmetic surgery in order to improve one’s appearance has become extremely popular and sometimes has even surpassed natural treatments as a faster and more effective solution.
The distinction between reconstructive and plastic surgery can also be seen through the insurance which covers them. While all procedures that belong to reconstructive surgery offer us health-coverage, the other ones don’t. This means that surgical performances that are undertaken for purely aesthetical reasons are not covered by health insurance.
Finally, as you could probably notice, the difference between these abovementioned terms is really huge. Even though they overlap sometimes, their sole purpose represents two opposite sides.