While researching your upcoming cosmetic surgery procedure, you may be more interested in the latest technologies, from surgical lasers to computer-guided medical instruments used to take years off your appearance. What you may not realize is that cosmetic surgery has actually been performed for centuries. An infographic developed by National Geographic traces the ancient history of plastic surgery.
About three thousand years ago, plastic surgery was already being carried out in ancient Egypt. There, it was believed that a person's facial appearance was the only physical characteristic that would remain into the afterlife. Ramses II, a king known for his unusually large nose, is the first known person to undergo plastic surgery. After his death, mourners inserted bone into his nose to ensure that he would be recognized in the afterlife.
The first known plastic surgeries performed on living patients occurred in India around 600 BC. An Indian doctor known as Sushruta created a surgical procedure to reconstruct the noses of ex-criminals, which were often cut off to cause permanent public shame. The process required skin to be taken from the patient's forehead or cheek and moved to the nasal area.
In Ancient Rome, more people than just ex-convicts underwent plastic surgery. Procedures included techniques for covering the brands used to mark slaves as property, reconstructive procedures for Roman soldiers, and techniques to fix the earlobes of wealthy women whose ears had been stretched by heavy earrings. A famous plastic surgeon, Aulus Cornelius Celsus, wrote a 'How to' guide for plastic surgery that would be used for more than 1,700 years. These procedures were performed with primitive versions of the scalpels, bone drills, and forceps still used by today's surgeons, and used alcohol and opium capsules as anesthesia.
Plastic surgery spread throughout India and Europe over the next several centuries. Today, the popularity of plastic surgery is at an all-time high throughout the world.
