Plastic Surgery Jargon Buster

Like all fields of medicine, cosmetic surgery has its own set of technical terms that can be confusing to those looking into it for the first time. Your botonics doctor can help you understand exactly what goes on in each process and what the effects will be, but if you’re just weighing up the pros and cons of a tummy tuck or breast enlargement, here are a few bits of jargon you might find it useful to understand:

You’ll find a lot of names that end with ‘plasty’. That means they set out to change that part of the body. An abdominoplasty alters the shape of the abdomen (tummy), for example, and a mammoplasty relates to changing the shape of the breasts.

Collagen isn’t fat. It’s the stuff that holds the different cells that make up the body together and it isn’t a bad thing at all. The support structure that gives your body its own particular shape is made from collagen.

Cellulite, on the other hand, is what many people would like less of. It’s the layer of fat that can collect right under the skin (doctors say it’s in the ‘subcutaneous’ layer), and differs from normal body fat. The connective tissues around it give cellulite a dimpled look many of us are all too familiar with. It can also be quite lumpy, but fat removal techniques can prove effective in reducing the appearance of cellulite.

A non-invasive technique is one that doesn’t involve opening up the body. Cosmetic surgery is by nature invasive, but there are plenty of non-invasive options for most common problems.