Do you think that cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery are the exact same thing? If so, don't feel badly, because the truth is that most people easily make that mistake. In fact, a 2004 article published in the Archives of Facial and Plastic Surgery (now called JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery) studied the difference in public perception between cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery. The researchers surveyed 216 people in terms of how they viewed this difference in various ways, including permanence, risk, expense, recovery, reversibility, pain, technical difficulty, and surgeon training. Overall, respondents thought that cosmetic surgery was less permanent, risky, painful, and technically difficult, and had a shorter recovery time than did plastic surgery. They also thought that cosmetic surgeons needed significantly less training than did plastic surgeons.

Although there can be some overlap between cosmetic and plastic surgery, there are distinct differences in the reasons why Dr. Paul Pin would perform one over the other. Some of these differences are outlined below.

Purpose of Cosmetic versus Plastic Surgery

Cosmetic surgery: Perhaps the main difference between cosmetic and plastic surgery is in terms of its purpose. Cosmetic surgery is performed strictly for aesthetic purposes to enhance the appearance. Examples of surgery that are usually done for aesthetic purposes would include: Breast augmentation, facelift, or liposuction. In each case, there is no real medical need for the surgery, so it is only being done to enhance the patient's features in one way or another.

Plastic surgery: In comparison, plastic surgery's purpose is to correct for a physical defect as a result of illness, injury, or congenital defect. Examples of plastic surgery would include breast reconstruction following mastectomy due to breast cancer, facial reconstruction following traumatic injury such as severe burn or laceration, correction for cleft palate, or extremity reconstruction. In each case, the surgery is being performed to restore normal appearance or function.

Areas of Overlap

There are some surgical procedures that can be either strictly aesthetic or medically necessary. One good example of such a procedure would be breast reduction surgery. In some cases, the patient may simply just not be happy with the overly large size and shape of their breasts. In other cases, the patient may be suffering from neck and back pain or skin rashes as a direct result of the excess weight and size of the breasts. In such cases, a breast reduction surgery may be considered medically necessary. Rhinoplasty (nose surgery) is another example, in which the surgery may be needed to correct for breathing difficulties that could be leading to snoring or sleep apnea.

Regardless of whether your surgery is for aesthetic or medical purposes, the important thing is to understand that both are still surgical procedures and should still be undertaken with proper care and consideration.