subject: Random Facts About Plastic Surgery [print this page] Do you have an inquiring mind? Do you enjoy trivia and like to uncover all that you can about the topics that interest you? If you like everything that surrounds plastic surgery, here we provide you with some random facts worth knowing.
The very first nose job that was ever recorded was in 600 BC in ancient India. Doctors of the day would reconstruct the noses of patients by taking skin from their forehead or their cheek. The skin portion would be twisted over a leaf of the right size. The skin would then be sewn into the appropriate place. In order to allow the person to breathe while the healing process was underway, two polished tubes made of wood would be carefully inserted into the nose.
Romans were very actively involved in plastic surgery procedures. By the first century B.C., plastic work was being performed on patients. Operations were done to fix eyes, lips and noses. Operations were also performed on the teeth. The Roman physician Cornelius Celsus recorded doing such procedures including male breast reduction and circumcision reversals.
In ancient Rome one of the most popular surgeries to be performed by the doctors of that day was the removal of scars. In particular the focus was on scars located on the back. In Roman times, scars found on the back were considered marks of shame that no one wanted to have to live with. They suggested that either an individual had been whipped as a slave would be whipped, or that a man had turned his back when he was in battle.
It was not just Roman citizens who desired plastic surgery. Foreigners, who arrived in Rome, also wished to have it because it made them fit in better with the citizens and feel more comfortable in the society in which they found themselves.
Plastic surgeries today are done in hospitals and clinics that are very modern in their design. What is interesting to note is that it was not always that way. In the early Renaissance days, a great number of plastic surgery operations took place in barbershops. Barbers in those days also performed minor forms of surgeries, including those of a plastic nature.
The father of modern plastic surgery is thought to be an Italian by the name of Gaspare Tagliacozzi. This father of plastics lived from 1546-1599 and wrote a textbook called "De curtorum chirugiau."In this book he made note that work of a plastic nature was needed because of street fights and duels that cause injury to the face and body. It was also a necessity due to the widespread outbreak of syphilis, which causes the nose to be damaged. Those with reconstructed noses were not thought of as very attractive. It could potentially fall off if the person blew their nose too hard.
