Plastic surgeons perform cosmetic procedures to enhance your physical appearance. They focus on the face, breast, body, and skin, offering surgeries such as breast augmentation, facelifts, and liposuction. Plastic surgery is also used to improve form and function for clients who’ve experienced trauma or congenital defects. Here are a few roles of surgery in reconstructive procedures:

Restoring Form After Trauma

Traumatic injuries, such as car accidents, workplace incidents, and severe burns, can leave permanent scars or damage your face and body. Plastic surgeons use reconstructive procedures to repair the damage and restore form and function. Procedures, such as blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery, correct drooping or injured eyelids that impair vision. Facelifts and forehead lifts restore symmetry and muscle support after facial injuries or nerve damage.

Surgeons also perform rhinoplasty to repair nasal structures damaged in accidents. By correcting the form and shape of the nose, plastic surgery restores normal breathing while enhancing appearance. Other reconstructive procedures include abdominoplasty, arm lifts, and body lifts, which target specific areas of the body. These surgeries may be used to remove damaged tissue and excess skin following trauma or burn recovery. Surgery may also involve tissue rearrangement to achieve symmetry or skin grafts to cover wounds.

Addressing Congenital Conditions

You may be born with structural differences that affect your appearance and function. Plastic surgeons address these congenital conditions at an early age to support normal development and improve function and quality of life. They can use reconstructive surgery to resolve nasal deformities, eyelid malformations, and congenital nerve or tissue imbalances. Nasal deformities cause difficulty breathing and may also affect speech and appearance. Surgeons use nose reshaping surgeries to remove obstructions and improve airflow through the nasal passage.

For eyelid malformations that obstruct your vision, surgeons can perform reconstructive upper and lower blepharoplasty. Facelifts also help correct facial asymmetries caused by congenital imbalances. Surgeons can perform breast reduction and breast lifts to alleviate discomfort associated with abnormal development. These procedures lead to more proportional breasts that don’t feel as heavy. Abdominoplasty and body lifts also address weakened tissues linked to congenital conditions, such as abdominal wall weakness and connective tissue disorders.

Recovering From Medical Treatment

Medical treatments, such as cancer surgery and bariatric procedures, may leave behind results that require reconstruction. Radiation therapy for head or neck cancer can stiffen or scar facial tissues. Extensive facial surgery may leave asymmetry or scar tissue. Bariatric procedures are associated with significant weight loss. Long-term use of corticosteroids and certain medications can also cause the skin to thin or weaken the connective tissues. These conditions affect tissue elasticity and may improve with reconstructive surgeries.

Facial procedures, such as rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, and facelifts, help restore the appearance following your medical treatment. Abdominoplasty and body lifts tighten the skin and repair the underlying muscles. The surgeries also help improve movement, facilitating recovery after weight loss or medical treatment. Plastic surgeons offer breast reconstruction to help restore symmetry and a sense of wholeness after mastectomy. They also perform reduction and lifts if you’ve experienced changes in breast size or position due to medical conditions or weight shifts. 

Enhancing Body Functions

The primary role of reconstructive surgery is to restore or enhance body function. Achieving this typically involves restoring the normal appearance, which enhances overall aesthetics. Procedures like rhinoplasty are used to reshape, reduce, or augment the nose for a more aesthetic look. This outpatient procedure may involve removing a hump or narrowing the nostril width. Surgeons also change the angle between the nose and mouth to improve airflow and breathing. Enhancing body functions involves other surgeries, including:

• Blepharoplasty: Removes excess tissue and skin that droops over the eyelid, improving vision and appearance.
• Breast reduction: Alleviates chronic back and neck pain caused by oversized breasts.
• Tummy tuck: Repairs weakened or separated abdominal muscles to improve posture, core stability, and reduce back pain.
• Brachioplasty: Removes excess skin and tightens tissues on the upper arm to reduce friction and improve mobility after major weight loss.
• Body lift: Tightens and reshapes the lower body to reduce skin folds and ease movement.

Get Started With Reconstructive Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgeons focus on improving both cosmetic appearance and addressing functional issues. They will tailor the surgery to your exact goals and requirements, providing either more or less extensive treatment solutions. Speak to a surgeon today to find out more about reconstructive plastic surgery.