Aesthetic surgery

While the pursuit of beauty the desire to please and to remain young are as old as humanity itself aesthetic surgery could only develop at the beginning of the twentieth century with advances in anatomical knowledge anesthesia and asepsis. It gradually emerged as the most effective means to achieve or preserve beauty.

Its development is closely linked to reconstructive surgery for soldiers with severe facial injuries during the First World War and the same surgeons practiced both aspects of the specialty. Many did not emphasize this dual activity because in both the United States and Europe cosmetic surgery has long suffered from a poor reputation within the medical community where it is often judged as futile. Furthermore as in any profession and still today unscrupulous individuals and true charlatans have taken advantage of women’s vulnerability and vanity to earn large sums of money without merit. In doing so they have tarnished the image of this remarkable and indivisible specialty : plastic reconstructive and aesthetic surgery.

Moreover, as in any profession, some unscrupulous individuals take advantage of women’s vulnerability (and vanity) to make significant profits through unnecessary or even dangerous treatments. These individuals tarnish the image of a remarkable surgical specialty : plastic, reconstructive, and aesthetic surgery.

The word aesthetic appeared in eighteenth century Germany in the writings of Alexander Baumgarten in Aesthetica written between 1750 and 1758. Aesthetics is described as the science of sensory knowledge that which awakens sensitivity in a universal way such as the sight of a sunset.

A little later Kant offered another way of thinking about this science. Aesthetic judgment is independent of attraction independent of knowledge and dogma and is not concerned with utility. Beauty provides the pleasure of free contemplation. When applied to a human being however the notion of functionality must be added.

It is a disinterested pleasure an object of universal satisfaction yet without concept. As for Baumgarten aesthetic judgment claims universal assent. Beauty or aesthetics must be distinguished from what is merely pleasant or good. The pleasant and the good are both related to desire and imply satisfaction whereas a judgment of taste is purely contemplative. It is indifferent to the existence of an object and links only its nature to a feeling of pleasure or displeasure. This contemplation is not governed by concepts.

I have long adopted the concepts developed by Kant which apply to all fields. One cannot expect aesthetics to define standards of beauty since it is a theory of sensitivity that offers the pleasure of contemplation necessarily linked in humans and living beings to functionality.

Do you wish to be beautiful ? This passes through the gaze through function through the deepest part of yourself and follows no rule. It is the magic of awakening in another a judgment that provides contemplative pleasure and that can be universally shared.
Do you wish to be attractive ? That responds to culture personal experience and conveyed images.

Or do you simply wish to feel better in your own skin by rediscovering your gaze your breasts or your physical attributes that have changed with age ?

Perhaps you also wish to correspond to contemporary beauty standards those you perceive as lacking in yourself and whose acquisition would strengthen your self confidence.

The indications for aesthetic surgery are broad. All parts of the body can potentially be improved. What matters most is knowing what you wish to improve the goal of the procedure and whether it can truly meet your expectations.

While the desire to be young and healthy is fairly evenly shared between men and women the demand for beauty remains predominantly female. As a result many procedures concern women. Moreover normal or complicated pregnancies and the frequency of breast cancer generate a specifically female demand for aesthetic reconstruction.

Breast surgery for asymmetry augmentation reduction or sagging as well as abdominal surgery and treatment of the saddlebag area are among the most requested procedures.
In men the most common request is liposuction of the waistline love handles or pre pectoral fat.

For the face rejuvenation may be minimally invasive using injections or nanofat or may require a facelift with repositioning of deeper tissues. Eyelid surgery must be subtle removing a sad or tired appearance.

Profiloplasty restores balance to a face perceived as disharmonious such as a large nose or a receding chin and requires specific maxillofacial and orthodontic expertise.

Cancerous skin tumors are treated with three essential objectives : complete tumor removal minimization of the consequences of excision and prevention of recurrence. This care is provided in collaboration with my colleagues in oncology, dermatology, and radiology at Clinique Générale Beaulieu.