People have sought to improve themselves on the inside and out for as long as mankind has existed, and plastic surgery is one of the means that we have developed to do so in the modern age. People get plastic surgery to fix birth defects, scars, deformities, burns and various physical marks from accidents. Other people get this to boost their self-confidence and achieve the kind of look they've always dreamed of. Some people also get surgery to augment the signs of aging, which is especially important in a culture that values youth as well as beauty. And while the procedures we most commonly associate with it are inventions of the modern age, it may surprise you to hear that people have been giving and receiving plastic surgery for thousands of years.
The earliest known record of a procedure resembling plastic surgery is a written document dating back approximately 4,000 years that describes a medical treatment for facial injuries. More advanced techniques can even be traced as far back as 800 BC, when doctors in India were using face grafts to reconstruct people's faces and bodies after accidents and injuries. After these early endeavors of ancient civilizations, however, developments in plastic surgery remained stagnant until sometime in the 19th century, when scientists and medical doctors starting forging ahead in this field.
The first famous American plastic surgeon to make noteworthy advancements in the field was Dr. John Peter Mettauer, who performed the first operation to correct a cleft palate in the United States in 1827. Since the field was still so new, he even had to design his own instruments. After that, plastic surgery began slowly developing in the Western world, but it wasn't until World War I that it really started to take off. With so many soldiers returning with gruesome injuries, the demand for innovations in it was higher than ever.
Just as brave surgeons were advancing the field of reconstructive surgery in the 19th and 20th centuries, other creative surgeons were also advancing the possibilities of aesthetic surgical procedures. One famous American plastic surgeon, John Orlando Roe, began practicing in the 19th century and made a huge impact on the medical community and the lives of his patients. He asserted that plastic surgery could alleviate the self-consciousness and embarrassment that kept people from sharing their talent with the world, an attitude that many others share today.
The earliest known record of a procedure resembling plastic surgery is a written document dating back approximately 4,000 years that describes a medical treatment for facial injuries. More advanced techniques can even be traced as far back as 800 BC, when doctors in India were using face grafts to reconstruct people's faces and bodies after accidents and injuries. After these early endeavors of ancient civilizations, however, developments in plastic surgery remained stagnant until sometime in the 19th century, when scientists and medical doctors starting forging ahead in this field.
The first famous American plastic surgeon to make noteworthy advancements in the field was Dr. John Peter Mettauer, who performed the first operation to correct a cleft palate in the United States in 1827. Since the field was still so new, he even had to design his own instruments. After that, plastic surgery began slowly developing in the Western world, but it wasn't until World War I that it really started to take off. With so many soldiers returning with gruesome injuries, the demand for innovations in it was higher than ever.
Just as brave surgeons were advancing the field of reconstructive surgery in the 19th and 20th centuries, other creative surgeons were also advancing the possibilities of aesthetic surgical procedures. One famous American plastic surgeon, John Orlando Roe, began practicing in the 19th century and made a huge impact on the medical community and the lives of his patients. He asserted that plastic surgery could alleviate the self-consciousness and embarrassment that kept people from sharing their talent with the world, an attitude that many others share today.
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