If you think plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery are the same thing, you're not alone.

Although both specialties are highly related and are often used interchangeably, they are not the same. Both surgeries focus on improving the patient’s physical aspect, but their philosophy, research, goals and results are different in each one.

Cosmetic Surgery: Improving your Appearance

Patients who undergo this type of surgery are healthy patients. The key objective is to enhace the patient's beauty by improving their aesthetic appeal, proportions and symmetry.

These procedures can be done almost anywhere in the body, such as the face, neck and rest of the body.

One of the main differences is that the cosmetic surgery is a choice, which means it’s not mandatory. Patients are driven by personal motives and it can be done anytime.

Some of the most popular procedures in cosmetic surgery are:

• Breast augmentation and reduction
• Rhinoplasty (nose surgery)
• Facelift
• Abdominal and Waist Liposuction
• Blepharoplasty
• Brazilian Butt lift
• Mommy Makeover

Plastic Surgery: Recovering Functions

As for plastic surgery, it’s defined as the surgical specialty focused on the reconstruction of facial and body defects due to birth disorders, malformations, trauma, burnings and diseases.

Some of the procedures performed by specialists in plastic surgeries are:

• Breast reconstruction after a mastectomy
• Reconstructive burn surgery
• Congenital deformities repair
• Lower extremity reconstruction
• Tissue expansion

If you’re looking for the improvement of some physical feature you don't like, you now know that what you need is a cosmetic surgery.

Non-surgical Procedures

Nowadays, there are lots of new procedures intended to enhance your beauty that don’t necessarily mean a surgery is needed. Some of them are Botox, Hyaluronic acid (lip and face fillers), dermatological procedures, and skin rejuvenations such as Microdermabrasion and Hydrafacials.

Mexico and the United States are known for its outstanding cosmetic surgeons, which have earned international recognition thanks to their extensive experience and high quality.

Obtaining the Cosmetic Surgery Specialty is not as easy as it sounds. It takes at least five years of demanding theoretical and practical formation in aesthetic medicine after the doctors have achieved their medical degree, so you can be sure and feel confident to be in good hands.

Whenever you want to undergo to a cosmetic procedure, ask the surgeon for its degrees and licenses as the evidence of their experience and formation. This will reassure and help you make an informed decision.