Plastic Surgery Glossary

A | B | C | G | H | I | L | M | N | R | S | T | U

• Abdominoplasty: A surgical procedure, also known as tummy tuck, to correct the apron of excess skin hanging over your abdomen.
• Augmentation mammaplasty: Breast enlargement by surgery.

• Bilateral gynecomastia: A condition of over-developed or enlarged breasts affecting both breasts in men.
• Blepharoplasty: Eyelid surgery to improve the appearance of upper eyelids, lower eyelids or both.
• Brachioplasty: A surgical procedure, also known as arm lift, to correct sagging of the upper arms.
• Brow lift: A surgical procedure to correct a low-positioned or sagging brow. Smoothes furrows across the forehead and between the brows.

• Circumferential thigh lift: A surgical procedure to correct sagging of the outer and mid-thigh.
• Collagen: A natural protein used as an injectable filler for soft tissue augmentation.

• General anesthesia: Drugs and/or gases used during an operation to relieve pain and alter consciousness.

• Human fat: Harvested from your own body and used as an injectable filler for soft tissue augmentation.

• Injectable fillers: Substances used to restore volume and your youthful appearance.
• Intravenous sedation: Sedatives are administered by injection into a vein to help you relax.

• Lipoplasty: Another term for liposuction.
• Liposuction: Also called lipoplasty or suction lipectomy, this procedure vacuums out fat from beneath the skin’s surface to reduce fullness.
• Local anesthesia: A drug is injected directly to the site of an incision during an operation to relieve pain.
• Lower body lift: Surgical procedure to correct sagging of the abdomen, buttocks, groin, and outer thighs.

• Mastectomy: The removal of a breast, typically to rid the body cancer.
• Medial thigh lift: A surgical procedure to correct sagging of the inner thigh.
• MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging; a painless test to view tissue similar to an x-ray.

• Nasolabial fold: Deep creases between the nose and mouth.

• Reduction mammaplasty: The surgical removal of breast tissue to reduce the size of breasts.
• Rhytidectomy: A surgical procedure, also known as facelift, to reduce sagging of the mid-face, jowls and neck.

• Saline implants: Breast implants filled with a salt water solution.
• Silicone implants: Breast implants filled with an elastic gel solution.
• Skin resurfacing: Treatment to improve the texture, clarity and overall appearance of your skin.
• Soft tissue augmentation: The use of injectable fillers to restore volume and your youthful appearance.
• Suction lipectomy: Another term for liposuction.
• Sutures: Stitches used by surgeons to hold skin and tissue together.

• Tumescent or super-wet liposuction: Requires an infusion of saline solution with adrenaline and possibly anesthetic prior to removal of excess fat.
• Tummy tuck: A surgical procedure to correct the apron of excess skin hanging over your abdomen.

• Unilateral gynecomastia: A condition of over-developed or enlarged breasts affecting just one breast in men.
• Ultrasound: A diagnostic procedure that projects high-frequency sound waves into the body and changes the echoes into pictures.
• Ultrasound-assisted lipoplasty: Uses ultrasonic energy to liquefy excess fat prior to surgical suctioning.