Dr. Vipul Sood

A Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon is a surgical specialty that restores, reshapes, or enhances the body structure, which includes both cosmetic procedures to improve appearance, to reconstruct after trauma, burns, or cancer, and microsurgery for complex reconstruction of structures like nerves, tendons, and blood vessels.

Patients would be seen for congenital anomalies (cleft lip and palate, hand deformities),trauma, burn scars, post-cancer reconstruction, cosmetic concerns, wounds/rash or problems with nerves or tendons.

Cosmetic surgery focuses primarily on improving appearance and aesthetics (i.e. rhinoplasty, liposuction, and breast augmentation) while reconstructive surgery aims to restore a normal structure, shape, and/or function after injury, burns, or disease (i.e., breast reconstruction after mastectomy, hand surgery to regain function, or scar revisions).

Plastic surgeons utilize many advances today including microsurgery, minimally-invasive cosmetic techniques, endoscopic procedures, flap surgery, fat grafting, and innovative laser technologies to provide precision, minimize scarring, and speed recovery.

No. Cosmetic surgery is one facet of plastic surgery, though it has an important place; plastic surgeons undergo extensive training in reconstructive procedures, trauma care, hand and microsurgery, and burn care, as well as in correcting congenital and acquired deformities.