40 Rejuvinating Facts about Plastic Surgery

By Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer

Published June 25, 2017

“Plastic” is derived from the Greek plasikos, meaning “to mold.” The term “surgery” is derived from the Greek kheirourgos, from kheir - “hand” + ergon - “work.”_[10]
Over half a million pet owners worldwide have opted to implant their pets with "neuticles," which are testicular implants for the neutered pet._[23]
The first recorded “nose job” is found in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts (600 B.C.). Physicians would reconstruct noses by cutting skin from either the cheek or forehead, twisting the skin side out over a leaf of the appropriate size, and sewing the skin into place. Two polished wooden tubes would be inserted into the nostrils to keep the air passage open during healing._[8][11]
"Elfing" is a plastic surgery technique in which a surgeon slices the top of ear cartilage and then sews it back together in a point._[6]
During the Middle Ages, plastic surgery was typically deemed pagan and sinful because the spilling of blood by a surgeon and the power the surgeon had over the body were akin to magic._[10]
When plastic surgery became popular during the Renaissance, surgeons took skin grafts from various donors, such as a neighbor’s pig, but were confused when the new nose would shrivel up and fall off. They concluded the flesh was “sympathetic,” meaning that the graft died when its original owner died.d_[10]

Interesting Facts about Cosmetic Surgery

Social media is feeding the plastic surgery industry

Millennial men are bolstering the plastic surgery industry, mainly because of the rise of social media and an awareness of how they look from different angles in images._[17]
By the first century B.C., Romans were practicing various forms of plastic surgery to repair noses, eyes, lips, and teeth. Roman physician Cornelius Celsus (c. 25 B.C.-A.D. 50) also describes procedures such as circumcision reversal and even breast reduction in men._[10]
Many plastic surgeries in the early Renaissance were performed in barber shops._[10]
"Dimpleplasty" is a type of plastic surgery that gives a person dimples. It's an outpatient procedure that lasts about 30 minutes and costs between $2,000 and $5,000. A surgeon makes a tiny incision inside a patient’s cheek, removes a small piece of cheek muscle, and attaches the remaining muscle to the underside of the skin, which leaves a permanent indentation, creating the dimple._[4]
Some plastic surgeons offer "Pokertox, " which is a specialized botox procedure to help card players look calm and stoic during their game._[7]
In 1794, British surgeons witnessed an Indian brick layer repair the nose of a British cattle driver who had his nose and hand cut off while a prisoner of the sultan. British surgeons imported the procedure back to northern Europe where interest rapidly grew._[10]
The most popular performed procedure is Botox, which is a protein derived from the botulism toxin. It is injected into the skin to paralyze facial muscles, giving the recipient a smooth facial appearance. The effects of the procedure typically wear off after three to six months._[20]

I wish I had a twin, so I could know what I'd look like without plastic surgery.

- Joan Rivers

Karl Ferdinand Graefe (1787-1840) coined the term “plastic surgery” in his 1818 text Rhinoplastik. He also attempted to remove the moral stigma associated with nose reconstruction by giving the procedure a classical name—rhinoplasty—to make it more similar to other surgical procedures._[10]
Surgeons who served in WWI established the American Association of Plastic Surgery in 1931 and helped curtail unregulated plastic surgery.b They are the largest plastic surgery specialty organization in the world._[22]
WWII ushered in plastic surgery techniques that included rebuilding entire limbs, extensive skin grafts, microsurgery, antibodies, and increased knowledge about tissue health._[10]
Silicone breast implants grew in popularity in the 1960s. Show girls would inject their breasts with liquid silicone, a substance initially used in Japan in WWI to plump out legs withered by polio. Unfortunately, they could suffer dangerous side effects, such as amputation of the breast due to infection and guaranteed “pendulous” breasts by the time they reached 40._[11]
Beard implants are an increasingly popular type of plastic surgery. To do this, a surgeon harvests follicles from another part of the body and jabs them into a man's face._[13]
Americans spend over $16 billion on cosmetic plastic surgery each year._[16]

Americans love their plastic surgery

In Nazi Germany, some forms of reconstructive surgery were mandated to enable the “too ugly” soldier to become a “real” soldier. Benito Mussolini’s (1880-1945) Italy also used plastic surgery to increase the performance of military officers, such as correcting drooping eyelids._[10]
Two-thirds of plastic surgery patients are repeat patients, and more than five million Americans may be addicted to plastic surgery. One example of such addiction, 48-year-old Hang Mioku was left disfigured after she injected her own face with cooking oil._[12]
Modern plastic surgeons are exploring the potential of cloning technology as a method of body rejuvenation and are looking into the secrets of the growth within the womb where scarless growth and healing take place._[10]
A growing trend, "lipotourism," or traveling to another country for plastic surgery, can be risky. One 40-year-old woman who went to the Dominican Republic for breast surgery contract a life-threatening infection in her breast._[14]
Big Tent Books published a new picture book by plastic surgeon Michael Salzhauer titled My Beautiful Mommy that explains to kids why mom is getting a flatter tummy._[21]
In 2015, the fast growing type of plastic surgery was buttock implants._[18]
The first modern breast augmentation took place on November 24, 1893, in Heidelberg, Germany, by Vincent Czerny. His patient was a 41-year-old singer who had a growth in her breast removed. Luckily, the patient had a growth (lipoma) on her back, which was harvested and transplanted to her breast. She was discharged on December 20, 1893._[10]

The top plastic surgery procedure in women in the U.S. is breast augmentation

One Texas mom underwent 8 plastic surgeries in order to look like Melania Trump. The procedures included a breast reduction, rhinoplasty, liposuction, a Brazilian buttock lift, and and eyelid lift. She said she wants "to feel like the First Lady that I know I am inside,"_[15]
Recently, men have accounted for approximately 40% of breast reduction surgeries in the U.S._[18]
After undergoing a botched buttock implant surgery, one woman could flip her implants around while they were still inside of her._[1]
Over 14.6 million plastic surgery procedures are performed in the United States each year, including both minimally-invasive and surgical procedures._[2]
One woman dubbed "cement face" became disfigured when she had a concrete-like substance injected into her face and body._[1]
In one botched plastic surgery, one woman was given breast implants into her . . . buttocks._[1]
One woman who underwent a clitoropexy to reduce her clitoral hood, labia majora remodeling, and labia minora reductions said that she now feels sexy and that plastic surgery on a vagina makes "you just want to play with yourself because you look that freaking amazing."_[5]
Women can now get "InstaBreasts," in which a saline solution is directly injected into the breasts to immediately create bigger boobs for up to 24 hours. The solution is eventually absorbed into the body and excreted in pee. The procedure takes 15-20 minutes._[9]
BrightOcular is a company offer iris implants that can change a person's eye color. The thin silicone implants can be folded and inserted into the eye to change its color._[2][3]

Tagliacozzi was an Italian surgeon and a pioneer of plastic and reconstructive surgery

Italian Gaspare Tagliacozzi (1546-1599) is widely considered the “father of modern plastic surgery.” His text book De curtorum chirugiau noted the need for plastic surgery due to duels and street fights, as well as a pervasive outbreak of syphilis which destroyed the nose. His “virtual” nose, however, could fall off if the user blew too hard, and young women with reconstructed noses were hardly objects of desire._[10]
Tagliacozzi was an atypical plastic surgeon during the Renaissance because he did not view illness, such as the syphilitic nose, as divine punishment. Instead he used the vocabulary of humanists such as Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola (1463-94) to justify his surgical innovations as autonomous self-remaking. Tagliacozzi’s work disappeared mainly as a result of the Counterreformation._[10]
A popular procedure in ancient Rome was scar removal, particularly scars on the back which were marks of shame because they suggested a man had turned his back in battle—or worse, he had been whipped like a slave. Foreigners would also have plastic surgery to fit better into Roman society._[10]
Because palm reading is popular in Japan, palm plastic surgery is becoming increasingly popular as an attempt to change a person's fortunes._[19]
In 1998, Bill Clinton signed a bill which required insurance companies to cover the cost of reconstructive breast surgery for women who had undergone a mastectomy._[22]