Cosmetic Surgery vs. Plastic Surgery

Often people erroneously interchange the terms cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery. To clear this matter up, we shall make patent the idea that plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery are quite different when one considers the intent of surgery and the expectations.

Plastic surgery is necessary and thereby reconstructive in nature, while cosmetic surgery is performed on an elective basis to enhance facial or bodily features. To display the point, a plastic surgery face lift is performed necessarily to remedy face damage sustained after an accident, whereas a cosmetic surgery face lift is done voluntarily to improve sagging skin due to age. One's face would still appear normal without cosmetic surgery, just not to the level of celebrity ideal.

Thus, during a cosmetic surgery procedure, the cosmetic surgeon improves upon a body part that is within range of normal appearance. During a reconstructive plastic surgery procedure, contrarily, a plastic surgeon normalizes a body part that is not within range of normal appearance. Changing a hideously broken nose back to its normal appearance with a nose job (rhinoplasty) is a prime example of aesthetic plastic surgery. Tweaking an already normal nose or chin (although unflattering to the face) with cosmetic eye surgery or cosmetic chin surgery are model examples of aesthetic cosmetic surgery.

To reiterate the point, ear plastic surgery to correct a birth defect is reconstructive, while breast implant surgery to increase chest size is elective. Cosmetic surgery, for that matter, can be deemed a subset of plastic surgery, as reconstruction by preference rather than by necessity. A breast implant doctor reconstructs or re-contours a woman's body--a large breast implant could even take the appearance of her chest quite out of normal range.