kids encyclopedia robot

Plastic surgery facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
US Navy 080811-N-9689V-004 Operation Smile volunteers Dr. Robert Russell, a plastic surgeon from Springfield, Ill., and his assistant Maria Velasquez, perform reconstructive surgery on 21-year-old Solomon Maitava
Navy doctors perform reconstructive surgery on a 21-year-old patient

Plastic surgery is a special type of surgery. It helps to change how a person's body looks or works. Sometimes, it can help with both. Doctors can work on different parts of the body. This includes bones, cartilage, muscles, fat, and skin.

What is Plastic Surgery?

Plastic surgery is a medical field focused on fixing or changing body parts. It can help people who have been injured. It can also help those born with certain conditions. Another reason for plastic surgery is to change how someone looks. The goal is often to improve how a body part functions. It can also make a person feel better about their appearance.

Two Main Types of Plastic Surgery

There are two main types of plastic surgery. They are called reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Both types involve skilled doctors. They use special tools and techniques.

Reconstructive Surgery

Reconstructive surgery helps to fix body parts that are damaged. It can also correct problems someone was born with. For example, if someone has a severe burn, reconstructive surgery can help. It can repair the skin and tissues. This helps the body part work better. It also makes it look more normal. Another example is fixing a cleft lip or cleft palate in babies. This surgery helps them eat and speak better. It also changes their appearance.

Cosmetic Surgery

Cosmetic surgery is different. It is done to change the size, shape, or color of body parts. This is usually done without fixing damage. People choose cosmetic surgery to improve their appearance. For instance, a "face-lift" is a cosmetic surgery. It tightens the skin on the face. This can make someone look younger. Other examples include changing the shape of a nose. Or it can be to make ears less noticeable. The main goal of cosmetic surgery is to improve how a person looks.

Images for kids

  • A statue of Sushruta at RACS, Melbourne

    A statue of Sushruta, who is sometimes called the father of plastic surgery. This statue is in Melbourne, Australia.

  • Edwin Smith Papyrus v2

    Pages from the Edwin Smith Papyrus. This is a very old medical text from ancient Egypt.

  • Shushrut statue

    Sushruta is seen by many as the Father of Plastic Surgery.

  • Aulus Cornelius Celsus

    The Roman scholar Aulus Cornelius Celsus. He wrote about surgical methods, including plastic surgery, around 2,000 years ago.

  • Indian method of nose reconstruction, illustrated in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1794

    This picture shows how a nose was rebuilt in India in the 1700s. It was done by an Indian potter.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Cirugía plástica para niños

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Plastic surgery Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.