Our desire to be attain physical perfection or beauty is inherently innate, and this is reflected when the history of plastic surgery is reviewed. Procedures that can be considered similar to today's "plastic surgery" have been around longer than you probably would have imagined.
Many historians agree that the first documented account of reconstructive plastic surgery was found in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts. The Hindu author Sushruta wrote about the reconstruction of earlobes and noses using skin from other parts of the face like the cheek and forehead. These procedures were quite necessary in Sushruta's time, which is believed to be somewhere around 500 B.C., because mutilation was used as a form of punishment, and humiliation was quite common.
In the forth century, the Byzantine physician, Oribasius, wrote at length about different reconstructive plastic surgery procedures in his medical encyclopedia called Synagogue Medicae. In his writing Oribasius demonstrated his insight into important techniques such as using flaps to avoid the distortion of facial features and the process of creating tensionless suture lines. Oribasius's work was highly influential to today's medical and cosmetic surgical techniques. His contributions are noted particularly in the fields of wound management and facial reconstruction.
After Oribasius's time the practice of plastic surgery waned. However a resurgence of reconstructive plastic surgery was documented, first during the 14th, and then the 18th century. Plastic surgery was especially gaining popularity during the 18th century, as Europeans were becoming particularly interested in reconstructive nose plastic surgery to improve the nose's appearance that had been impacted by disease or combat. The advent of effective surgical anesthetics in the late 1800s had allowed plastic surgery to gain more popularity as procedures became less painful and complicated.
Although the aforementioned provides evidence that suggests that plastic surgery has been around for thousands of years, it was not until World War I that these reconstructive procedures became slightly mainstream because of necessity. Plastic surgery as a medical specialty was born out of the horrors of World War I and the tremendous toll taken on mankind. Besides the thousands of soldiers who were killed, millions more were crippled or hideously deformed, requiring ingenious and specialized surgical treatment.
During the war, collaborations were formed between surgeons of various nationalities and disciplines to help all these affected soldiers and civilians. American, British, French, German, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian surgeons became rhinologists, oral surgeons, general surgeons, dental surgeons, ophthalmologists, and neurosurgeons are now deemed the fathers of modern plastic surgery rose, as the specialized procedures rose to prominence. Founding fathers included Sir Harold Gillies (otolaryngologist) from New Zealand, and the Americans Vilray Blair (orthopedic surgeon), Robert Ivy (general surgeon), Lee Cohen (otolaryngologist), and Varaztad Kazanjian (dentist).
By the end of the war, 11,572 major facial operations had taken place at Queen's Hospital, Kent, Engalnd. Plastic surgery started to grow after the WWI, and it was reasoned that "if soldiers whose faces had been torn away by bursting shells on the battlefield could come back into an almost normal life with new faces created by the wizardry of the new science of plastic surgery, why couldn't women whose faces had been ravaged by nothing more explosive than the hand of the years find again the firm clear contours of youth".
In 1921, the American Association of Plastic Surgeons (AAPS) was formed, and in 1931, American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS) was founded. This allowed the plastic surgery for aesthetic means to become recognized as a professional specialty, despite tension amongst physicians who argued its lack of credibility and 'true' application. The plastic surgeons justified their positions by advocating the indirect benefits of aesthetic improvement - Dr. John Staige Davis argued in 1926, "..if a new nose enabled a war veteran to hold a job and marry, could it not also improve the employment opportunities of a civilian man or sweeten the marital and therefore financial prospects of a woman?.... Wasn't it undemocratic to deny an individual the right to self-improvement?".
As time went on and aesthetic plastic surgery procedures continued, plastic surgery became fully integrated into the medical community. During the 1960s, the concept of plastic surgery grew in the consciousness of the American public as more physicians performed plastic surgery procedures. Silicone was beginning to become applied in plastic surgery and started becoming a part of our culture. By the 1970s, plastic surgeons became one of the leading medical professions.
During the 1980s, plastic surgery was rapidly expanding all over the country and continues to this day. Thousands of (ASPSR) board-certified plastic surgeons are available today in every part of the country. The field of plastic surgery now has many specializations offering a variety of plastic surgery procedures to interested patients. Plastic surgery continues to evolve and improve, and this continued evolution has allowed millions of people to benefit from the procedures both externally and internally.
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