At the mention of plastic surgery, most people are likely to think of expensive procedures that are for purely aesthetic purposes. Of course, there is an element of truth in this, since the vast majority of plastic procedures are associated with a change in the shape of the nose and breast augmentation. However, the pioneers of plastics had quite practical goals and objectives. Here top 5 amazing operations from the history of plastic surgery.
Italian rhinoplasty method
Plastic surgery has been documented in the 16th century, when the Italian surgeon Gaspare Tagliacozzi, using methods described in an ancient Indian treatise, restored the patient's damaged nose. For this, he used tissue from the forearm.
The operation took place in several stages. Initially, the skin flap from the biceps was not completely separated, but was attached to the tip of the nose with a connecting clip and left for 20 days. In this case, the patient's hand was fixed with a rigid bandage and attached to the nose so that the skin flap would fit well around the remnants of the nose. Tagliacozzi then completely cut the skin off the biceps. It is difficult to imagine the sensations of a person forced to walk for almost a month with a motionless hand suspended from his nose. In addition, the result of an unusual operation was not guaranteed, and the risk of infection was quite high.
First successful breast augmentation
The first breast augmentation operation was reconstructive. Part of the left breast was removed from the patient due to a tumor. German surgeon Vincens Cerny used a lipoma, a benign fatty tumor from a woman's back, to repair her breasts.
An astonishing operation took place in 1895, and surgeons spent the next 70 years trying to come up with a viable material for creating breast implants. They tried to put everything in a woman's breast: paraffin and glass balls and beeswax and even ivory. Fortunately, surgeon Frank Jirou invented the silicone implant in the 1960s. His first experimental procedure was performed on a dog. And the first woman to have silicone implants was Timmy Jean Lindsey.
First kidney transplant
While most people do not think of transplant procedures as being directly related to plastic surgery, they involve many similar techniques, in particular nerve and tissue reconstruction and replantation. Therefore, the first successful kidney transplant was included in the top 5 amazing plastic surgeries. It was performed by renowned plastic surgeon Joseph E. Murray in 1954. The patient's twin brother became the organ donor.
Selfie and plastic
In 2013, the Oxford Dictionary selected selfies as their word of the year. The habit of photographing themselves in different situations has become an element of everyday life for many. Men and women, young and old, upload their photos to social media sites such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter. Even though the act seems innocent, it ostensibly triggers an increase in plastic surgery.
According to the American online publication Huffington Post, several people have done beauty treatments for the sole purpose of increasing the attractiveness of selfies.This, in part, is understandable: who wants to see a "dislike" under their own photograph?
Complete face transplant
The list of unusual facts about plastic surgery is headed by a tragic story with a happy outcome. In 2012, surgeon Eduardo Rodriguez performed a face transplant for Richard Norris, who shot himself in the face with a shotgun due to a drunken quarrel with his mother. It was perhaps the most intense and complex plastic surgery procedure ever performed prior to this time. It lasted 36 hours.
Despite the fact that Norris cannot be called handsome, and he must take medications to keep the immune system at "half capacity", his new face is flexible and flexible. And this fact is amazing, considering that it literally exploded when fired.