Works of art for the perfect body
Plastic surgery
History and development of plastic surgery
Specialists disagree as to origins of plastic surgery. Some claim they reach as far back as antiquity, while others believe actual foundations of the discipline were laid in the 19th century. An ancient Indian medic, Acharya Sushruta, is considered not only the father of Indian medicine but also the pioneer of plastic surgery. Many rumours concern him and his activities. He created a work entitled Sushruta Samhita, some of which is regarded as the oldest collection of information on plastic surgery. Acharya Sushruta describes surgical procedures, methods of diagnosing and treating a number of conditions as well as instruments he used in his surgeries. Ancient Romans and Greeks were not averse to applying medicine for reconstructive purposes. The Roman scholar Aulus Cornelius Celsus mentions techniques of nose or mouth reconstruction and a procedure of breast reduction in his encyclopedic 8 Books on Medicine (De medicina libri VIII). Hundreds of years passed without contributing much to development of plastic surgery. Important next steps in the field were made by the Bologna-based surgeon Gaspar Tagliacozzi, who created the method of rhinoplasty using a skin flap withdrawn from a Patient’s arm. As far as the 19th century is concerned, achievements of the German surgeon Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach need to be noted, who dealt with skin transplants, maxillofacial surgery, and rhinoplasty. He’s considered the first person to carry out a rhinoplastic surgery for aesthetic reasons. The 19th century is the time of more pioneering procedures, including abdominoplasty. The early 20th century, the first and second world wars give rise to a great demand not only for medical life-saving procedures, but also burn treatment techniques and reconstructive methods. The turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was a time of development for plastic surgery in Poland. Doctor Stanisław Michałek-Grodzki, who contributed to establishment of the first plastic surgery department in Polanica-Zdrój hospital, where he was a director, is seen as the precursor to the Polish school of plastic surgery. Passing years of the 20th century witnessed intensive developments in the potential of this medical discipline. The growing need for taking care of yourself has driven continuing development of plastic surgery in all its areas.
Another look at plastic surgery, or a short discussion on art
Is plastic surgery an art, and plastic surgeon an artist? Answers to this question aren’t clear or brief. As far as one of the many functions of art are concerned, it is expected to provide aesthetic experiences, or nothing else than the pleasure of admiring beauty. Likewise, the objective of aesthetic surgery (a branch of plastic surgery) is to enhance beauty by improving aesthetic qualities of areas of the human bodies operated on. Art and bodily plasty also share the therapeutic function. Art is therapeutic by cleansing, unblocking unexpressed emotions and giving opportunities of displaying ideas. Notions of art therapy, music therapy or film therapy are becoming widespread, while therapists take increasing advantage of their possibilities. The chief goal of plastic surgery, meanwhile, is to treat the body and the variety of its imperfections. Therapy of the mind, often enslaved by bodily defects, lack of self-acceptance, and complexes, is an indirect function of this branch of medicine. The mind, peaceful once the body has been cured, approves of the new corporeality and opens one to new experiences. The integrating function is also worthy of note in connection with art and plastic surgery. It involves integrating an artist into a social group and bringing a Patient, commonly alienated or even excluded from certain milieus, closer to a given community.
Returning to the motif of beauty, art and plastic surgery can be said to place it on a pedestal. This springs from the love of harmony, symmetry, and grace. Both the beauty arising from artistic experience and bodily beauty are intended to give rise to pleasurable impressions and positive thinking. Although art does not always have the purpose of enhancing beauty, it concentrates on it to a large extent.
Thinking of characteristics of an artist, ideas like sensitivity, talent, imagination, understanding of another person, patience or creativity come to mind. A recognised plastic surgeon is associated with a gifted person of considerable spatial imagination and an exceptional taste, empathetic and sensitive to beauty. Characteristics of the above figures are bound to overlap and focus around similar values. Without them, neither an artist nor a plastic surgeon will be able to attain their objectives.
To sum up, art and plastic surgery share a number of features, rest on similar foundations of the sense of beauty and the need for aesthetic experience, with their representatives striving to create work both according to their own conceptions and as required by others. This field of medicine can therefore be connected to art, and plastic surgeons to artists. Given the blurry boundaries of art definitions, we can decide ourselves what to include and what will not enrich art. One thing is certain, these two areas have a lot in common, just like their practitioners. By understanding of and sensitivity to beauty, a plastic surgeon is capable of enhancing attraction of particular body parts, sculpt and make them pleasing and enticing.
What do the contemporary plastic surgery and its branch of aesthetic surgery have to offer?
The roots of plastic surgery reach back to reconstructive surgery, an extensive discipline of treatment and surgeries of varied scope and complexity. The job of plastic surgery is to treat imperfections arising in utero, or native defects, and body faults caused by illnesses, injuries, inappropriate skin care or protection as well as natural processes which result in ageing. Most do associate it with breast enhancement, correction of protruding earlobes or face lifting, however, it offers far more than aesthetic procedures and includes demanding and complicated reconstructive surgeries, tissue augmentation, and treatment of major burns.
Our clinic can conduct a range of medical procedures enhancing beauty, restoring mobility or reconstructing tissue deficits in many areas of the body. As far as the chest is concerned, we specialise in plastic breast surgery. Aside from breast enhancement that enjoys great popularity, we offer reconstruction of breast glands or their parts lost to cancer. We have extensive experience in this area. This is at our clinic that you can take advantage of the novel technique of “breast sharing”, which is reconstruction following mastectomy using tissue from the other breast, together with a simultaneous symmetrising procedure. We carry out breast reduction and reduction of hypertrophied male mammal glands. Regarding the face, the trademark asset for each of us, we carry out a number of procedures to restore flexibility and shine to its skin, enhancing beauty and correcting imperfections of its particular parts. In particular, our centre specialises in rhinoplasty with a variety of techniques and we commonly undertake a full gamut of face, forehead and brow lifting, ear (otoplasty) and eyelid (blepharoplasty) plastic procedures. We also shape the torso and its individual areas. We carry out liposuction, surgeries of the belly (abdominoplasty), calf, thigh, and arm following a significant weight loss. We also restore hand mobility restricted by symptoms of diseases, and take care of their beauty.
The pioneering operations which look beyond the horizon of existing plastic surgeries are our everyday standard. Such novel therapies and innovative procedures are only suggested and indicated as alternatives to the well-established treatments, though. Those interested in non-standard therapeutic methods are fully informed to make conscious decisions to implement them as part of their treatment. Before application, pioneering procedures are fine-tuned in great detail, so that they don’t give rise to a risk of undesirable effects greater than in the case of well-known methods. Patients’ safety is our priority.
Each Patient is another story and work with each bases on their individual needs. We meet our Patients’ expectations by offering a broad range of treatment opportunities, based on our experience and knowledge. Thousands of people in Poland and abroad have benefited from the procedures we offer. We keep working on improving our skills for Patients’ benefit and our own development.
Feel welcome to find out details of our procedures, meet us for consultation, and take advantage of our experience and plastic surgery services.
