They say beauty is skin deep. However, in our society, beauty is valued on its surface and is usually judged by outer appearances. As part of a project for the Bollywood movie Chapak, Deepika Padukone, who essayed the protagonist in the movie walked the streets as her character with visible scars. The reaction of people to Deepika’s looks was quite telling. They avoided her altogether and some even gave weird stares. Plastic surgery can help people avoid such uncomfortable glances of onlookers, as well as let people keep guessing their age. With the forties becoming the new twenties, the increasing demand for cosmetic surgery is quite understandable.
Often, cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery are spoken interchangeably. However, they differ from each other. Cosmetic surgery is concerned with aesthetics. The procedures in cosmetic surgery are focused on enhancing a patient’s appearance and they are NOT mandatory. You can live without them easily.
Whereas, plastic surgery is a necessity. It helps reconstruct facial and body defects due to birth disorders, trauma, burns and disease. Which means plastic surgery is not an elective process. For a cancer survivor or an acid attack victim plastic surgery reconstructs body parts and rekindles hope to lead a normal life again.
Types of Cosmetic Surgery
There are various types of aesthetic procedures in use available for and targeting different parts of your bodies. The more popular ones are:
Microdermabrasion
Microdermabrasion is a minimally invasive procedure used to renew overall skin tone and texture. It is quite popular as it doesn’t cost much and helps reduce fine lines, enlarged pores and sunburn. Microdermabrasion gently exfoliates surface layers of the skin with the help of fine crystals or minute diamond-studded tips to abrade the skin and vacuum suction to remove dead skin cells. For removing pigmentation equipment like Akira SP Q Switched bipolar laser machines are used.
Laser Hair Removal
When it comes to permanent laser hair removal, equipment like the Cutera CoolGlide is a high-powered and versatile cosmetic laser designed for men and women of all skin types and tones. Cutera Cool Guide conveniently reaches areas such as the back or small, hard-to-reach places like the upper lip. This laser works by emitting pulses of pure light into the melanin of hair follicles. The light turns to heat within the bulge and the bulb of the hair follicle, destroying the source of the hair without negatively affecting surrounding skin tissues.
Cosmetic Thermotherapy
Thermotherapy is the therapeutic application of heat. In this treatment the most advanced Radio Frequency is combined with 650 nm / 470nm LLD. It is an ultimate Solution for facial and body contouring. As a bonus, you get anti-ageing benefits, removal of cellulite, stretch marks and cellulite reduction.
Chemical peels
As the name suggests, a chemical solution is applied to the skin, after which the top-most layer of the skin peels off and the new skin is usually less-wrinkled and smoother. To accentuate the effects of chemical peel, non-injectable mesotherapy or electroporation with machines like Timpac ACU GEL are used for penetration of skin-nourishing ingredients to deeper dermalayers (electroporation) as it helps intensify the effects of the chemical peels.
The treatment involves exposing skin to a light electrical field, which then reduces the cell wall’s resistance, rendering it more permeable. This then allows us to transfer a wide range of naturally nurturing solutions or oils into the skin cells, a treatment that is painless with no side effects.
Liposuction
This is a procedure to vacuum fat from various parts of the body like abdominal fat or excess fat on hips, thighs, neck etc. The equipment used in liposuction is an Ultrasound device, and a few mechanical and laser devices. Thin Cannulas or hollow metal tubes are used to suck the fat out. For people with money to spare, liposuction may sound like a fascinating method to get rid of excess body fat. Yet, it is not an alternative to weight loss and should not be considered as a weight-loss treatment.
Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery
The most commonly performed Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery is labiaplasty. This involves removal of tissue from female genitalia, labia minora that extends beyond the labia majora and/or removal or increase tissue from the labia majora in order to achieve symmetry.
Breast Surgery
Breast enlargement or Breast reduction are done to get women in shape, so as to boost their self-esteem and get them relief from physical discomfort.
Facial Reconstruction
There are many ways to do facial surgery; eyelid surgery can fix drooping eyelids or lower eyelids with bags. A nose job involves a surgeon reshape the patient’s nose to improve their appearance or breathing too. Ear surgery is done to pin an unshapely ear closer to the head with the help of sutures. A facelift often does what the name suggests, tightening the face for a wrinkle-free youthful appearance.
Hair Transplant
Effective to treat bald people, this surgery gets your lost hair back. Tiny hair follicle grafts obtained from the back of the scalp are transplanted to the areas with hair loss of the scalp with the help of minute incisions.
The Instruments used to Support Plastic Surgery
Commonly used instruments for cosmetic surgery are Awls, Chisels, Curettes, Wire and Pin Instruments, Electrosurgical instruments such as bipolar and monopolar forceps, Electrosurgical Units, Cables, Cannulas, Markers, Rulers, Clamps, Knives, Dissectors, Hooks, Needle Holders, Needles, Speculums, Retractors, Spreaders, Aspirator liposuction system, and lastly but not the least Scissors.
Let us understand the use of at least 6 instruments below:
Electrosurgical Units – These can make precise surgical incisions with bare minimum blood loss. These come in all ranges of power settings and operating features.
Cannulas – Cannulas are made for oxygen conservation and delivery. Available and catering to various sizes and age groups, these ensure long term of oxygen therapy for patients.
Dissector – Made of stainless steel these are used to dissect an area if the need be.
Aspirator Liposuction system – This instrument contains two displacement pumps which relieve back pressure to create a vacuum and maintain it. Being dual-headed these come powered with four pumps of which even one reaching downtime can keep the system up and running with the power of the remaining three.
Speculum – Helpful to give a sneak peek of a hollow part to the doctors, a speculum is a duck-bill-shaped device a doctor uses to help them see through for surgery.
Retractors – These are used to retract the tissue surrounding a surgical incision. Some commonly used retractors for cosmetic surgery are Spatulas or Spreaders.
There are many more such devices to help attain a cosmetic up-gradation to one’s body or its part. However, one thing that we all should remember in this cosmetic and unreal world is that our beauty should be recognized by our actions and thoughts and how we treat each other. Our idea of beauty should resonate with inner beauty and not the shining and polished exterior.
For a cosmetologist trying to set up his / her clinic or for a hospital on the budget, PrimedeQ is the right place to look for equipment.