| Dr. Richard Mouchantat is a plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. Here the Doctor has answered some of the common questions bizymoms visitors have about Reconstructive Surgery.
Q. What is Reconstructive Surgery?
A. Plastic surgery is a wide and varied discipline in which cosmetic, reconstructive, restorative and hand surgery is done. I feel very fortunate to be a Plastic Surgeon and have the skills and knowledge of this discipline of surgery. Reconstructive surgery is done to restore form and function whenever possible for people who have surgery for tumors, cancer, trauma or congenital conditions. Reconstruction is done with special attention to a patient’s body image and physical needs with respect to work, play and intimacy. The need for reconstructive surgery could be as varied as a child born with a cleft lip to reconstruction of the breast after cancer surgery, or soft tissue coverage procedures to salvage an extremity after major trauma.
Q. What is the difference between Cosmetic and Reconstructive surgery?
A. Cosmetic surgery in contrast to reconstruction mentioned above, is usually performed on patients who decide to have procedures on an elective basis to improve or enhance their appearance. Cosmetic surgery for women and men is generally done to restore changes that have occurred with ageing, child bearing, breast feeding, weight loss, sun damage or to improve upon or enhance what nature has given us. For many people cosmetic surgery allows them to feel like their appearance is more normal and more beautiful.
Q. What benefits does Reconstructive surgery provide?
A. Reconstructive surgery benefits people who have undergone a loss of tissue from surgery or traumatic injury or even from birth defects. A common need for reconstructive surgery is to restore breasts after mastectomy for cancer. These reconstructions allow people to look and feel more normal with a secure and confident body image. Some reconstruction is done to restore function as well, as in hand, facial or genital reconstruction.
Q. Who is a good candidate for Reconstructive surgery?
A. Reconstructive surgery is often planned in combination with surgeons who are removing tumors and cancer or treating traumatic injuries. This allows me to minimize the time that a patient lives with the deformity. Patients healthy enough to undergo surgery and those without conditions causing wound-healing problems are good candidates for surgery. Patients must be well informed and consent to treatment after understanding the risks and benefits.
Q. Does Reconstructive surgery have possible risks and complications?
A. All surgery has risks and benefits and I take a careful and safe approach for each patient to evaluate their individual needs and desires when planning any procedure whether reconstructive or cosmetic. Some of the standard risks of any surgery include pain during the recovery, scarring, infections altered sensation and the need for revisions.
Q. How long does it take to recover from Reconstructive surgery?
A. Some procedures will have minimal downtime and normal activity within a few days while more complex procedures may require a few weeks of recovery time. More complex reconstructions would require lighter activity levels than the smaller procedures. It is always my goal to get patients back to their normal activities as soon as it is safe to do so.
Q. Does Reconstructive surgery leave any visible scarring?
A. Although reconstruction of many defects results in scarring, we are sensitive to the appearance of the final results so that scarring is inconspicuous. Great care is taken to optimize the form, contour and color of the reconstruction when planning and performing surgery. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as scar free surgery. However, the quality of the final result is of the utmost importance and therefore scarring is minimized as much as possible.
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