Plastic Surgery vs. Cosmetic Surgery

In San Diego

You may be tempted to think that plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery are the same thing.  In the media and in casual conversation, many times the two terms are used intermittently. However, we at Face Beautiful Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery obviously believe there is a difference, because we use both in describing our practice, and for reasons that you can understand better if you understand the distinction between these two words that derive from very different Greek roots.

Plastic derives from “plastikos,” meaning to mold. Plastic surgery is surgery that shapes or forms the human body. Many of our procedures do this, including especially rhinoplasty, otoplasty, chin augmentation, etc.  These procedures seek to change the appearance of the face.

Cosmetic, on the other hand, comes from the same Greek word as cosmos, which is used in modern English to describe the universe, but to the Greeks meant order. Cosmetic surgery might be thought of as the attempt to give order to the body.  Order, manifested in symmetry and balance, is at the root of beauty.  Many of the effects of aging, including wrinkles and facial sagging, are the effects of entropy, or disorder, on the face, and have the combined result of removing balance from the features of the face. Purely cosmetic procedures are not intended to change the balance of the face, but, rather, to maintain it against the effects of age.  A facelift, for example, when performed properly, will not change your appearance to make you look like someone else, but it will correct the changes to your appearance by age and gravity.  Similarly, injections like Botox and Restylane do not make you look like a different person, they just help you look like the person you were years ago.

Many plastic procedures are also cosmetic.  A rhinoplasty, for example, is only successful if it improves the balance and proportion of the face. Chin augmentation's primary purpose is to provide balance in the profile between the nose, chin, and other features.

To learn more about how we blend cosmetic and plastic procedures to give you the best possible results, please contact Face Beautiful Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery to set up your initial consultation.