Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery: Types, Procedures, and Facts
Author: Disabled World (DW)
Updated/Revised Date: 2 Nov 2026
Table of Contents:
Synopsis - Definition - About This Section - FAQs - Publications - Subtopics
Synopsis
Plastic and cosmetic surgery explained, covering reconstructive and aesthetic procedure types, skin grafting, surgeon board certification, and key statistics.
At a Glance
- 1 - Nasal repair is first mentioned in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, an Ancient Egyptian medical text dated from 3000 to 2500 BC.
- 2 - Sir Harold Gillies, a New Zealand otolaryngologist working in London, is widely regarded as the father of modern plastic surgery.
- 3 - ASPS members performed nearly 1.6 million cosmetic surgical procedures and over 28.5 million minimally invasive procedures in 2024.
- 4 - Skin grafts fall into three types: allografts from the same species, xenografts from a different species, and autografts from the recipient.
Topic Definition
- Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
Plastic and cosmetic surgery is a surgical specialty focused on correcting, restoring, or enhancing the form and function of the body and face. The field splits broadly into two branches. Reconstructive surgery repairs functional impairments caused by burns, traumatic injuries, congenital conditions such as cleft lip and palate, disease, and tumors, aiming to restore both use and a normal appearance. Cosmetic, or aesthetic, surgery instead works to refine appearance toward a desired ideal through procedures like liposuction, rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, and eyelid surgery. The wider discipline also takes in reconstructive work, craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and burn treatment, and it commonly relies on techniques such as skin grafting, careful incision planning, and precise wound closure to produce lasting results.
Overview
Plastic surgery is defined as a medical specialty concerned with the "correction" or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, plastic surgery is not necessarily cosmetic, and includes many types of reconstructive surgery, craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns. In the United States in 2024, the most common cosmetic surgeries were liposuction, breast augmentation, tummy tuck (abdominoplasty), breast lift, and eyelid surgery, while neuromodulator injections such as Botox were the most common minimally invasive treatment [American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2025].
In plastic surgery, the transfer of skin tissue (skin grafting) is a very common procedure. Skin grafts can be taken from the recipient or donors:
- Allografts are taken from a donor of the same species.
- Xenografts are taken from a donor of a different species.
- Autografts are taken from the recipient. If absent or deficient of natural tissue, alternatives can be cultured sheets of epithelial cells in vitro or synthetic compounds, such as integra, which consists of silicone and bovine tendon collagen with glycosaminoglycans.
Usually, good results are expected from plastic surgery that emphasizes careful planning of incisions so that they fall in the line of natural skin folds or lines, appropriate choice of wound closure, use of the best available suture materials, and early removal of exposed sutures so that the wound is held closed by buried sutures.
Reconstructive Surgery
Reconstructive plastic surgery is performed to correct functional impairments caused by burns; traumatic injuries, such as facial bone fractures and breaks; congenital abnormalities, such as cleft palates or cleft lips; developmental abnormalities; infection and disease; and cancer or tumors.
Reconstructive plastic surgery is usually performed to improve function, but it may be done to approximate a normal appearance.
The most common reconstructive procedures are tumor removal, laceration repair, scar repair, hand surgery, and breast reduction.
Some other common reconstructive surgical procedures include breast reconstruction after a mastectomy, cleft lip and palate surgery, contracture surgery for burn survivors, and creating a new outer ear when one is congenitally absent.
Cosmetic Surgery
Aesthetic, or cosmetic, plastic surgery uses surgical and medical techniques to change appearance. It may aim to maintain a normal appearance, to restore it, or to enhance it toward an aesthetic ideal.
Plastic surgery remains in steady demand. In 2024, members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) performed nearly 1.6 million cosmetic surgical procedures, more than 28.5 million minimally invasive procedures, and more than 1 million reconstructive procedures [American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2025]. The most common cosmetic surgeries were liposuction (349,728 procedures), breast augmentation (306,196), tummy tuck (171,064), breast lift (153,616), and eyelid surgery (120,755). Other plastic surgery procedures include:
- Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck): Reshaping and firming of the abdomen.
- Blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery): Reshaping of upper/ lower eyelids, including Asian blepharoplasty.
- Brachioplasty (Arm lift): Reducing excess skin and fat between the underarm and the elbow.
- Browplasty (brow lift or forehead lift): Elevates eyebrows, smooths forehead skin.
- Buttock augmentation (butt implant): Enhancement of the buttocks using silicone implants or fat grafting (Brazilian butt lift) and transfer from other areas of the body.
- Calf Augmentation: Silicone implants or fat transfer to add bulk to calf muscles.
- Cheek augmentation (cheek implant): Implants to the cheek(s).
- Cheiloplasty: Surgical reconstruction of the lip.
- Cryolipolysis: Medical device used to destroy fat cells. Its principle relies on controlled cooling for non-invasive local reduction of fat deposits to reshape body contours.
- Cryoneuromodulation: Treatment of superficial and subcutaneous tissue structures using gaseous nitrous oxide, including temporary wrinkle reduction, temporary pain reduction, treatment of dermatologic conditions, and focal cryo-treatment of tissue.
- Fillers injections: Collagen, fat, and other tissue filler injections, such as hyaluronic acid.
- Genioplasty: Augmentation of the chin with an individual's bones or with the use of an implant, usually silicone, by suture of the soft tissue.
- Jaw reduction: Reduction of the mandible angle to smooth out an angular jaw and creating a slim jaw.
- Labiaplasty: Surgical reduction and reshaping of the labia.
- Laser Skin Rejuvenation or laser resurfacing: Lessening of depth in pores of the face.
- Lip enhancement: Surgical improvement of lips' fullness through enlargement.
- Liposuction (suction lipectomy): Removal of fat deposits by traditional suction technique or ultrasonic energy to aid fat removal.
- Mammoplasty:
- Breast augmentations (breast implant or boob job): Augmentation of the breasts through fat grafting, saline, or silicone gel prosthetics, which was initially performed to women with micromastia.
- Reduction mammoplasty (breast reduction): Removal of skin and glandular tissue, which is done to reduce back and shoulder pain in women with gigantomastia and for men with gynecomastia.
- Mastopexy (breast lift): Lifting or reshaping of breasts to make them less saggy, often after weight loss (after a pregnancy, for example). It involves removal of breast skin rather than glandular tissue.
- Midface lift (cheek lift): Tightening of the cheeks.
- Neck lift: Tightening of lax tissues in the neck. This procedure is frequently combined with a facelift for lower face rejuvenation.
- Orthognathic Surgery: Altering the upper and lower jaw bones (through osteotomy) to correct jaw alignment issues and correct the teeth alignment.
- Otoplasty (ear surgery/ear pinning): Reshaping of the ear, most typically done by pinning the protruding ear closer to the head.
- Phalloplasty (penile surgery): Construction (or reconstruction) of a penis or, sometimes, artificial modification of the penis by surgery, frequently for cosmetic purposes.
- Rhinoplasty (nose job): Reshaping of the nose.
- Rhytidectomy (face lift): Removal of wrinkles and signs of aging from the face.
- Zygoma reduction plasty: Reducing the facial width by performing osteotomy and resecting part of the zygomatic bone and arch.
Craniofacial Surgery
Craniofacial surgery is divided into pediatric and adult craniofacial surgery.
- Pediatric craniofacial surgery mostly revolves around the treatment of congenital anomalies of the craniofacial skeleton and soft tissues, such as cleft lip and palate, craniosynostosis, and pediatric fractures.
- Adult craniofacial surgery deals mostly with fractures and secondary surgeries (such as orbital reconstruction) along with orthognathic surgery.
Plastic Surgeon Qualifications
Diploma and License
After medical school, surgeons go through years of hands-on training in residency and specialty programs. A medical license is a bare minimum: it is issued by a state and allows a doctor to practice medicine, but it is not specific to any specialty. A diploma and license are required, but they do not show that a surgeon is board certified in plastic surgery.
Board Certification
Board certification in plastic surgery in the United States is granted by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS). ASPS member surgeons are certified by the ABPS and have more than six years of surgical training and experience, with at least three years dedicated to plastic surgery [American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2025]. Members also agree to follow a code of ethics. Another respected group, The Aesthetic Society (the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery), focuses on cosmetic surgery and also requires board certification.
Look for a board-certified plastic surgeon who operates in an accredited facility. Certification does not guarantee the results you want, but it is proof of a basic level of training and skill. Choose a surgeon whose work and manner you are comfortable with, and do not be afraid to ask questions.
Aesthetic and Cosmetic Procedure Facts and Statistics
- Sir Harold Gillies, a New Zealand otolaryngologist who worked in London, is generally considered the father of modern plastic surgery.
- The most common reconstructive procedures in 2024 were tumor removal, including skin cancer (361,798 procedures), hand surgery, breast reconstruction, maxillofacial surgery, and scar revision [American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2025].
- Treatments for the plastic repair of a broken nose are first mentioned in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, a copy of an Ancient Egyptian medical text dated to the Old Kingdom, from about 3000 to 2500 BC.
- Minimally invasive procedures were more than twice as common as cosmetic surgical procedures in 2024, led by neuromodulator injections (9,883,711) and hyaluronic acid fillers (5,331,426).
- More than 800,000 aesthetic patients of ASPS members used prescription weight loss medicines in 2024, and body contouring surgery is increasingly used after major weight loss.
- Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a condition in which a person becomes preoccupied with what they see as defects in their body or face. People with BDD are often not helped by cosmetic surgery, so screening for it is part of a careful consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does recovery from cosmetic surgery usually take?
Recovery varies by procedure, ranging from a few days for minor injectable treatments to several weeks or months for major surgeries such as abdominoplasty or facelifts, with full healing sometimes taking up to a year.
Is plastic surgery covered by health insurance?
Reconstructive procedures that restore function after injury, disease, or congenital conditions are often covered, while purely cosmetic surgery chosen to enhance appearance is generally paid for out of pocket.
What is the difference between plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery?
Plastic surgery is the broad specialty that includes reconstructive work to restore form and function, while cosmetic surgery is a subset focused specifically on enhancing appearance toward an aesthetic goal.
What are the main risks of undergoing plastic surgery?
Common risks include infection, scarring, bleeding, reactions to anesthesia, nerve damage, and results that may not match expectations, which is why choosing a qualified surgeon matters.
How do I verify that a plastic surgeon is properly qualified?
Confirm the surgeon is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and is a member of respected bodies such as ASPS or ASAPS, and check that they operate in an accredited facility.
At what age can a person have cosmetic surgery?
Most elective cosmetic procedures require patients to be at least 18, though some, such as otoplasty or breast reduction for medical reasons, may be performed earlier with parental consent and medical guidance.
How much does cosmetic surgery typically cost?
Costs vary widely by procedure, geographic location, surgeon experience, and facility fees, so patients should request a detailed written estimate that includes anesthesia and follow up care during consultation.
What is reconstructive surgery?
Reconstructive surgery restores the form and function of parts of the body affected by birth defects, injury, disease, or cancer treatment, such as breast reconstruction or cleft lip repair. Unlike cosmetic surgery, it is often covered by insurance.
References
- American Society of Plastic Surgeons. (2025, June 25). Interest in aesthetic health remained consistent despite economic uncertainty in 2024, according to new report from American Society of Plastic Surgeons [Press release].
Curated and edited by Ian C. Langtree, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Disabled World. This section is maintained by the Disabled World editorial team. Last updated: