The first recipient of plastic surgery was the sailor Walter Yeo, who suffered horrendous facial injuries while operating a warship gun array. The skin graft surgery used to repair his eyes was the beginning of the plastic and cosmetic surgery industry, which is now ironically more used to prey on peoples vanity than improve quality of life.
Daily Telegraph. (2008). Pictures of first person to undergo plastic surgery released. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2636507/Pictures-of-first-person-to-undergo-plastic-surgery-released.html. Last accessed 22nd Nov 2011.
The earliest example of a celebrity in the public eye that underwent cosmetic surgical procedures is Maralyn Monroe. She apparently has surgery on her nose and chin to make her more appealing to the public. The surgery was implemented after signing with 20th Century Fox.
Below are pictures of Monroe before and after surgery.
website. (2011). Marylin Monroe plastic surgery. Available: http://www.celebrityplasticpics.com/marilyn_monroe_plastic_surgery.htm. Last accessed 22nd Nov 2011.
The fascinating thing about ancient surgery is how advanced it had started to become before it fell out of favour - a roman legionnaire was more likely to survive an amputation than an American revolutionary! Roman surgeons could also remove and cauterise tumours and perform cataract removal operations!
In ancient history, there was an unusual gap where surgery seemed to fall out of grace with the world. Surgical instruments have been discovered as early as the Egyptian empires, but didn't reappear in Europe until around the 15th century, where it was recognised as a true, albeit lesser form of medicine.
The fascinating thing about ancient surgery is how advanced it had started to become before it fell out of favour - a roman legionnaire was more likely to survive an amputation than an American revolutionary! Roman surgeons could also remove and cauterise tumours and perform cataract removal operations!
Claude Moore Sciences Library. (2009). Surgical Instruments from Ancient Rome. Available: http://www.hsl.virginia.edu/historical/artifacts/roman_surgical/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2011.
As time has gone on, surgical instruments have become smaller and the operating theatre cleaner, with stricter rules and regulations as to how the surgery should be performed and as to how those performing it should dress and clean themselves.
Will these trends continue? Will we eventually be performing surgery with automated surgeons on a microscopic level? Will there be a need for surgeons at all,or will everything be computer controlled?
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