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THE SURGICAL IMPROVEMENT IN APPEARANCE OF THE FEMALE BODY
Author(s) -
Reich Julien
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1974.tb71168.x
Subject(s) - buttocks , medicine , feeling , rehabilitation , surgery , abdomen , resection , position (finance) , physical therapy , psychology , finance , economics , social psychology
Increasing numbers of female patients in this country are requesting a surgical improvement in the appearance of their bodies. This article deals with the aesthetic, psychological and technical aspects of this type of surgery, with particular reference to the physically underdeveloped patient, the “obstetric wreck” and the grossly obese woman. The most common request in this series was for an improvement in the size, shape and position of the breasts. Next in frequency were requests for the rehabilitation of the anterior abdominal wall in the young multipara, involving the correction of laxity of the musculoaponeurotic structures as well as resection of redundant dermolipomatous tissue. The improved feeling of support and comfort resulting from this operation was also greatly appreciated by the older patient. While surgery is not the solution to the problem of obesity, it may provide the incentive for a determined dietary approach to the problem, as well as the means of restoring shape after a gross decrease in bulk of the body. The combined one‐stage surgical rehabilitation of the abdomen and breasts is gaining favour with patients, owing to the frequent coexistence of these deformities and also to the considerable saving in the hospital and postoperative recovery period for the patient. The correction of disproportion of buttocks and thighs is becoming more acceptable owing to the use of excisions based on the buttock creases, rather than vertical excisions along the thighs. The surgical improvement in the appearance of the limbs is not yet sufficiently satisfactory from the aesthetic point of view to be used as a routine.