Plastic surgery has two branches,cosmetic surgery and reconstructive plastic surgery.

Cosmetic surgery is concerned with improving the aesthetic appearance of a person, while plastic surgery may include this, or just the reconstruction (reconstructive surgery).

Reconstructive plastic surgery is concerned with improving function; however, it may also involve trying to approximate normal appearance, but that is not its primary function.

Reconstructive plastic surgery is often referred as simply reconstructive surgery.

Cosmetic surgery

There was almost  11 million cosmetic procedures done in 2006 in the United States alone. This number has increased over 50% in the last 10years. the five most common surgeries being breast augmentation, liposuction, nasal surgery, eyelid surgery and abdominoplasty.

The most popular cosmetic procedures include:

• Ttummy tuck: reshaping and firming of the abdomen
• Eyelid surgery: reshaping of the eyelids or the application of permanent eyeliner, including Asian blepharoplasty
• Penile liposuction : construction (or reconstruction) of a penis or, sometimes, artificial modification of the penis by surgery, often for cosmetic purposes
• Mammoplasty:
  • Breast implant” or Boob job: augmentation of the breasts by means of fat grafting, saline, or silicone gel prosthetics, which was initially performed to women with micromastia
  • Breast reduction: removal of skin and glandular tissue, which is done to reduce back and shoulder pain in women with gigantomastia
  • Breast lift: Lifting or reshaping of breasts to make them less saggy, often after weight loss (after a pregnancy, for example). It involves removal of breast skin as opposed to glandular tissue
• Butt implant: enhancement of the buttocks using silicone implants or fat grafting (“Brazilian butt lift”) and transfer from other areas of the body
  • Buttock lift: lifting, and tightening of the buttocks by excision of redundant skin
• Chemical peel: minimizing the appearance of acne, chicken pox, and other scars as well as wrinkles (depending on concentration and type of agent used, except for deep furrows), solar lentigines (age spots, freckles), and photodamage in general. Chemical peels commonly involve carbolic acid (Phenol), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), glycolic acid (AHA), or salicylic acid (BHA) as the active agent.
• Labiaplasty: surgical reduction and reshaping of the labia
• Lip enhancement: surgical improvement of lips’ fullness through enlargement
• Rhinoplasty (“nose job”): reshaping of the nose
• Otoplasty (“ear surgery”/”ear pinning”): reshaping of the ear, most often done by pinning the protruding ear closer to the head.
• Rhytidectomy (“face lift”): removal of wrinkles and signs of aging from the face
  • Browplasty (“brow lift” or “forehead lift”): elevates eyebrows, smooths forehead skin
  • Midface lift (“cheek lift”): tightening of the cheeks
• Chin augmentation (“chin implant”): augmentation of the chin with an implant, usually silicone, by sliding genioplasty of the jawbone or by suture of the soft tissue
• Cheek augmentation (“cheek implant”): implants to the cheek
• Orthognathic Surgery: manipulation of the facial bones through controlled fracturing
• Fillers injections: collagen, fat, and other tissue filler injections, such as hyaluronic acid
• Laser skin resurfacing
• Liposuction (“suction lipectomy”): removal of fat deposits by traditional suction technique or ultrasonic energy to aid fat removal.