Cosmetic Surgeons, Doing Good Around the World
Cosmetic surgeons all over the United States are working hard to improve the people’s lives through transforming their bodies every day. But did you know that cosmetic surgeons also travel the world to perform life-saving surgeries on medical missions?
Surgeries that are common in the United States, like cleft palate repair, are nearly impossible to come by in many countries. Unsanitary conditions, untrained medical personnel, and extreme poverty make most cosmetic surgeries -- even those that restore basic biological functions, like chewing or talking -- inaccessible for much of the population in war-torn or third-world countries.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently reported on some of their local cosmetic surgeons who were treating patients both abroad, through programs like Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres, and at home, through programs that pay for children to be brought to the United States for surgery. One of these children, Sedra Afifi Akarnah, had such severe scarring on her torso that she couldn’t lift her arms at all. She was brought to Atlanta by the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and was treated at Paces Plastic Surgery Center. Her surgeries were successful and she can now lift her arms, brush her hair, and feed herself again, like any other five year-old girl.
Cosmetic surgery is often seen as a shallow discipline, only for the wealthiest members of our society. But it’s also important to remember that cosmetic surgeons are highly trained, specialized doctors who save lives, change lives, and heal traumatizing and life- threatening conditions. Medical missions are one important way for cosmetic surgeons to give back and to spread joy and healing in the places that need it the most. With the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, this help is needed now more than ever.
Originally Published Apr 1, 2011