The term plastic surgery usually makes people think of fake breasts and Botox injections
but there are a whole slew of operations for all kinds of medically necessary problems. Many of them are specifically for children even. The most common is ear pinning but children also often have eyelid lifts.
Kids can be mean and the stigma of having large ears that stick out inevitably leads to insults along the lines "Dumbo" but there is a surgical option that many parents opt to have for their kids and that is ear pinning or otoplasty. With this technique a doctor is able to make large ears smaller, small ears larger, protruding ears can be pinned back, misshapen ears can even be crafted into a more natural shape. There is no limit to the abilities of doctors to improve their appearance.
This sort of plastic surgery can be done on kids after the age of four and usually involves general anesthesia. The doctor makes an incision in the back of the head and then reshapes the cartilage as needed. At the end of the operation he reattaches the skin and stitches it back up at the original incision spot. Often if protrusion is an issue the surgeon will leave in permanent stitches that will hold the auricle back.
The second most common plastic surgery for children is blepharoplasty or an eyelid lift. Some children are born with a weakened muscle of the eyelid called a ptosis that results in a drooping of the eyelid. Being overly tired aggravates this condition and if left untreated can interfere with normal vision development. As a result it is common to remedy it when a child is young. The procedure entails simply sedating the child and making a small incision along the eyelash line. The excess skin and weak muscle are taken up and pinned or shortened to provide a more even level to the eyelids when awake. This plastic surgery is a very basic outpatient procedure in most instances and can be done in an afternoon.
Both of these procedures provide not simply aesthetic benefits but also social and psychological benefits as well. By repairing and correcting blemishes can greatly increase a child's self-esteem and self-confidence. The will protect him from bullying and unkindness and potentially correct what could later become a more serious problem. Plastic surgery can vastly improve the look of adults but it is a vital tool for helping children as well.