Cosmetic Surgery in the United States: Its Past and Present

摘要

I would like to thank Drs. Hopping, LaFarge, and Qadir for inviting me to participate in this World Congress in Dubai. The opening of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery hospital in Dubai is an appropriate time to review the history of Cosmetic Surgery, where we stand today and what our future is as cosmetic surgeons.Cosmetic, or aesthetic, surgery represents the universal human desire to maintain, restore, or enhance normal appearance beyond the average level towards an aesthetic ideal. The surgery may be performed to produce a younger more beautiful appearance or it may be used to return an abnormal or unsightly feature to normal. It is only during the last century that surgeons have been able to predictably and safely address this fundamental human characteristic which seeks the improvement of normal physical appearance.