Name: Mengyi Tang
Email: mengyita@usc.edu
Cosmetic Plastic Surgery: Where Art, Science and Engineering Meet
Abstract: Nowadays, people live under the influence of the media promoting plastic
surgery, which has affected their thoughts and aesthetics in terms of physical appearances.
In order to develop their self-esteem and confidence, more and more people choose to do
plastic surgery. According to the America Society of Plastic Surgeon, there are two types
of cosmetic plastic surgery: one is the surgical procedure and the other one is
non-surgical procedure.13 This article introduces the art, science and engineering of
plastic surgery especially two types: one is the nose job and the other one is the
double-jaw surgery. It also introduces two new kinds of surgical procedure: Rib Cartilage
Rhinoplasty and V-line. Especially in Asia, those two are recently developed and become
very popular in Asian countries like Korea, Japan and China. Those two new surgical
procedures give readers more innovative perspectives on plastic surgery. From this article,
readers can understand that plastic surgery is not just simply a surgery, but it is also the
procedure of building aesthetics and reconstructing the face much like structural and civil
engineering on the buildings.
Biography: Mengyi Tang is an international junior student, majoring in Industrial
Engineering. She is interested in cosmetics and anything related to cosmetics.
Traditional Surgical Procedure of Asia Rhinoplasty:
“ Rhinoplasty is the art and science of restructuring the nose. It is the part structural
engineering, part architecture and part sculpture,” said by Dr. Stuart Bentkover, a
Princeton and Harvard educated board certified Plastic Surgeon1. As the development of
technology and improvement of life quality, plastic surgery becomes more popular
around all over the world, especially in Asia. According to a 2011 study performed by the
International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, nearly 15 million cosmetic plastic
surgeries were performed in 2011.2 Korea, China and Japan are the top three Asian
countries performing the nose job. A couple of years ago, the silicon nose job was so
popular in Asia that it was called “Asian Rhinoplasty” or “Asian Nose Job”. Based on the
definition from Alpha-Health, “The silicon nasal implant will add the height to the nose
bridge and increase the definition in the nasal tip area.”3 The most commonly used shapes
of silicon are L-shape for both the nasal bridge and tip area, and I-shape for the nasal
bridge area.
Figure 1. Silicon Shapes and Before/After Photos3
As shown in Figure 1, it represents different shapes of silicon for nose job. There are
L-shapes on the left bottom of picture and I-shape on the right (The figure is from the
article What is an Asian Rhinoplasty and Asian Nose Job?). Depending on the different
persons and different types of nose shapes, surgeons usually will choose the best-suited
shapes of silicon to implant into the patient’s nose bridge and nasal tip area. The silicon
implant is a traditional nose job procedure performed for reshaping noses including
adding the height of nasal bridge and nose tip. However, there are some side effects of
silicon implants since silicon is not part of humans’ bodies so that they might be rejected.
As technology is improving, a new type of nose job was developed, which is called Rib
Cartilage Rhinoplasty.
New Type of Nose Job: Rib Cartilage Rhinoplasty
Rib Cartilage Rhinoplasty is not that common right now and was just developed a
couple of years ago. From the website of VIP, which is the specialized clinic of Rib
Cartilage Rhinoplasty in Seoul, “rib cartilage can be most useful choice of material to
perform the rhinoplasty in Asian nose such as short nose, damaged nose and infected
nose.”4 Rib Cartilage is strong and safe to support the nasal structure. However, ear and
septal cartilage are weak and maybe not enough for the short nose. In human body, we have
12 rib cartilages and most commonly, number 7 is used for Rhinoplasty.4 When the doctor
performs the Rhinoplasty, he/she will get the number 7 rib cartilage and reshape/sculpture
it to fit the size and shape of the patient’s nasal bridge and if the patient wants higher nose
tip area, the doctor can also use the sculptured rib cartilage to add the height of nose tip
area.5 Since the surgery includes harvesting the rib cartilage, contouring the cartilage and
the also the procedure for rhinoplasty, the amount of time of this surgery is longer than the
traditional nose job, using silicon implanted rhinoplasty. The Figure 2 below shows the
outcome of rib cartilage rhinoplasty for Asians. From the comparison of before and after
photos, the heights of nose bridge and tip areas in the right photo are apparently higher than
the left photo (This Figure is from the website of VIP International Plastic Surgery Center
in Korea).
Figure 2. Rib Cartilage Rhinoplasty Before and After photos4
Not only can rib cartilage be reshaped for the short nose, it can also be replaced for the
damaged or infected noses because of the rejection of silicon or donated cartilage.
Therefore, the rib cartilage is the most advanced technology for rhinoplasty, and compared
to other types of nose job, the surgical procedure is much more complicated so the amount
of time is also longer.
New technology of double-jaw surgery: V-Line
In spite of the new type of nose job invented, there is also new type of double- jaw
developed theses years. According to the article In South Korea, Plastic Surgery Comes
Out of the Closet, written by Choe Sang-Hun, “Double-jaw surgery — which was
originally developed to repair facial deformities, and involves cutting and rearranging the
upper and lower jaws — has become a favorite procedure for South Korean women who
are no longer satisfied with mere nose jobs or with paring down cheekbones to achieve a
smoother facial line.”6 Recently, in South Korea, V-line, one type of the double-jaw
surgery has become extremely popular among patients. From the website of ID clinic,
which is the most famous V-line clinic in Seoul, Dr Park Sang-Hoon is the first surgeon
in Korea to perform the surgery as cosmetic plastic surgery.7 In the past, it was difficult
to reduce the chin because of damaging nerves, however, V-line surgery using the new
technology called T-osteotomy to perform the double-jaw surgery.7 V-line surgery can be
performed due to several reasons such as broad chin, flat chin, long face, or short face.
The method of V-line surgery is “cutting off the angular part of the patient’s side face and
correcting the wide chin at the same time.”7 Figure 3 is from the Grand Clinic in Seoul,
and it shows the outcomes of the v-line surgery.
Figure 3. Before and After Photos of V-line from Grand Clinic8
The wide chin can be reduced and the angular part can be cut off from the comparison of
before and after photos (The Figure is from the website of Grand Plastic Surgery). From
the website of Grand Clinic, the cutting area of the double jaw and chin depends on the
specific shape of the patient’s chin and the procedure performed by the doctors.8
Plastic Surgeries in South Korea:
In South Korea, cosmetic plastic surgery is very popular no matter is surgical or
non-surgical like injection. As reported in the Economist, there were over 360,000 total
cosmetic plastic surgeries performed in 2010, and South Korea ranked as the top country
with the most numbers of cosmetic plastic surgeries based on the population size.9 Also,
despite the people in Korea had surgeries, there are more and more patients come from all
over the world to have their surgeries performed in South Korea. In the figure below, the
data was from a 2010 survey conducted by International Society of Aesthetic Plastic
Surgeons, which is also called ISAPS.10
Figure 4. Plastic Surgery Statistics9
Moreover, in Korea, cosmetic plastic surgery becomes part of culture, for instance,
Korean mothers even let their daughters to have plastic surgery as their birthday gifts to
change their appearances. Parents may promise their daughters to have nose job done if
they pass exams or have good grades. Moreover, patients can even borrow money from
bank and pay for the cosmetic plastic surgery. From a 2009 survey conducted by Trend
Monitor, in Seoul there are one of every five women aged from nineteen to forty-nine had
cosmetic plastic surgery done.11 Recently, there are even some Korean reality TV Show
recorded the procedures of cosmetic surgery and the comparison of patients’ before and
after looks. In Korea, cosmetics plastic surgery is not just simply a surgery, it becomes part
of culture, and more and more people prefer to undergo surgeries when they are not
satisfied with their faces.
Conclusion:
The term “plastic surgery” was originated by Pierre Desault to describe procedures to
repair facial deformities in 1976.12 In the past, fewer people would have plastic surgeries
done because of the lack of technology of cosmetic plastic surgery. However, with the
development of technology, and the promotion of media, more and more people desire to
have better looks by having plastic surgeries done such as double eyelid surgery,
rhinoplasty, breast augmentation and etc. In the recent years, people are more
open-minded and the plastic surgery becomes very common all over the world. With the
more advanced technology, more and more cosmetic plastic surgeries can be invented
such as rib cartilage and V-line (mentioned above). The cosmetic plastic surgery will be
safer and guaranteed for patients with the new invention of technology. In the future,
cosmetic plastic surgery will become part of culture all over the world, and more people
will choose to improve their confidence and pursue better looks by undergoing plastic
surgery.
References
1. Stuart Bentkover, “Bentkover: Facial Plastic Surgery.” Accessed October 28, 2013.
http://www.drbentkover.com/
2. “Top Plastic Surgery countries: International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons
Release
Report.”
The
Huffington
Post.
Accessed
October
28,
2013.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/top-plastic-surgery-countries-world_n_25
90757.html#slide=2008289
3. “What is an Asian Rhinoplasty and Asian Nose Job?” Accessed October 29, 2013.
http://www.alpha-healthasia.com/article/what-asian-rhinoplasty-and-asian-nose-job
4. VIP International Plastic Surgery Center in Korea. Accessed October 29, 2013.
http://www.beauty-korea.com/content/page.asp?tID=103&sID=294
5. Vicent P. Martin, Alan Landecker, and Jack P. Gunter. “ Harvesting Rib Cartilage
Grafts for Secondary Rhinoplasty.” Plast.Reconstr.Surg 121 (2008): 1442. Accessed
October 30, 2013.
6. Choe Sung-Jun. “ In South Korea, Plastic Surgery Comes out of the Closet.”
Published
On
November
3,
2011.
Accessed
November
1,
2013.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/04/world/asia/in-south-korea-plastic-surgery-comes
-out-of-the-closet.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
7. ID Hospital. Accessed November 1, 2013. http://eng.idhospital.com/face/face02.php
8. Grand
Plastic
Surgery.
Accessed
http://eng.grandsurgery.com/v-line-jaw-reduction/
November
1,
2013.
9. Beth. “South Korea Tops Plastic Surgery Tables”. Published May 3, 2012. Accessed
November 2, 2013.
http://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/south-korea-tops-plastic-surgery-tables-again
-netizens-react.html
10. International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. Accessed November 2, 2013.
http://www.isaps.org
11. Mikaela Conley. “Nip/Tuck Nations: 7 Countries With Most Cosmetic Surgery.” ABC
News. April 25, 2012.
12. Grobman P. Vital statistics. New York, NY: Plume Books; 2005.
13. America
Society
of
Plastic
Surgeon.
Accessed
October
http://www.plasticsurgery.org/cosmetic-procedures/nose-surgery-.html
28,
2013.