Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the restoration and correction of bodily form or function. The specialty has two main areas: RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY & AESTHETIC (OR COSMETIC) SURGERY.

Reconstructive surgery is performed primarily to correct structural and/or functional abnormalities or impairments in various body areas, although the restoration of normal appearance is often an additional benefit. These impairments may be caused by burns, trauma, congenital or developmental defects, infection, or cancer.

Common reconstructive procedures include surgeries to correct congenital facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate (birth defects that occur when a child’s lip or mouth do not form properly). These children often have problems eating and talking and are also prone to ear infections, hearing loss and dental problems. Surgery to repair a cleft palate can improve breathing, hearing and speech, and also dramatically change the appearance of a child’s face.

Cosmetic surgery consists of procedures that revise or reshape parts of the body in order to change a person’s appearance in the absence of any preceding trauma, burn, infection, tumor, etc.