Useful Information

Why Cosmetic Surgery?

There are many reasons people seek out a surgical procedure. Some of these include:

• Congenital or birth defects (tuberous breast defect, cleft lip and palate, and “bat ears”)
• Lack of bodily development (breast augmentation and tuberous breast)
• Concern over body and feature shape (breast size, nipple size and shape, nose reshaping, cheek dimples, and calf augmentation)
• Involution of the body (breast lift mastopexy, Breast Lift mastopexy with Implants mammoplasty, Post-pregnancy (abdominoplasty and/or breast surgery and/or Labiaplasty)
• Aging (breast Lift mastopexy, breast lift mastopexy with implants mammoplasty, face lift rhytidectomy, neck lift platysmaplasty, eye lift blepharoplasty, brow lift browplasty, fat transfer/grafting, chin enlargement genioplasty)
• Concern about your appearance (breast surgery, face surgery, body surgery and plastic surgery for men)
• Concerns of overtired or angry looking facial features (eye lift blepharoplasty, brow lift browplasty, fat transfer/grafting, chin enlargement genioplasty, and anti-wrinkle injections)
• Failure of diet and exercise to shape your body (liposuction/liposculpture, male liposuction, abdominoplasty, arm lift brachioplasty, inner thigh lift thighplasty, and male breast reduction gynaecomastia)
• Bodily imbalance symptoms (breast augmentation mammoplasty, breast reduction mammoplasty, nipple size and shape, chin enlargement genioplasty, lip augmentation, liposuction, body lift abdominoplasty, and male breast reduction gynaecomastia)
• Reconstructive and Revisional Surgery (breast reconstruction mammoplasty, revisional breast implant procedures, cleft lip, and palate, labiaplasty, and rhinoplasty)

What is Cosmetic Surgery?

Cosmetic surgery offers individuals the choice to alter their appearance.  However, pressure from advertising and media often trivializes the risks of plastic and cosmetic surgery. While fortunately, the risks involved with surgery are uncommon, remember that there are risks with every surgical procedure.

Plastic and cosmetic surgery aims to achieve improvement, not perfection, and it is very important to approach such surgery with realistic expectations.

Cosmetic Surgery is a form of plastic and reconstructive surgery, being born from the developments of this discipline.  Its roots are therefore from when surgery was devised to improve appearance following traumatic or congenital defects.  Thorough understanding of general surgical principles and anatomy are essential to the safe and quality practice of cosmetic surgery.  As a result, it is important to ensure your procedure is performed by a fully trained Specialist Plastic Surgeon.

Memberships:

Important Note when Choosing Your Surgeon

All surgeons have differing levels of training, experience and expertise.

Specialist Plastic surgeons practice cosmetic plastic and reconstructive surgery. A doctor must also train through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) to qualify as a plastic surgeon. This involves a minimum of 10 years of extensive training and exams after graduation from medical school. Most surgeons are also members of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), a group whose members are ALL trained through RACS.

Look for the letters FRACS under a doctor’s name and check that they are affiliated with the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), as only fully qualified plastic surgeons have these titles and memberships. To find if your doctor is a real surgeon, go to www.surgeons.org/find-a-surgeon/. Alternatively go to the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons website on www.plasticsurgery.org.au/

Useful Links

• Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons
• Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
• American Society of Plastic Surgeons

**Results may vary for individual to individual