Understanding the language of aesthetic surgery.

Glossary

Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Terms

Definitions adapted with reference to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Abdominoplasty ("Tummy Tuck")

After pregnancy or significant weight loss, abdominal muscles can weaken and skin can lose elasticity. Abdominoplasty tightens the abdominal muscles and removes excess skin and fat, and can improve some stretch marks. An incision is typically made across the pubic area and around the navel; when laxity is confined to the lower abdomen, a modified technique may leave a shorter scar with no scarring around the navel.

Alpha Hydroxy Acids

Derived from foods such as fruits and milk, alpha hydroxy acids improve skin texture by removing layers of dead cells and encouraging cell renewal.

Augmentation Mammoplasty

See Breast Augmentation.

Blepharoplasty

See Eyelid Surgery.

Breast Augmentation (Augmentation Mammoplasty)

Typically performed to enlarge small, underdeveloped, or post-pregnancy breasts, breast augmentation surgically places an implant behind each breast. An incision is made under the breast, around the areola, or in the armpit, and a pocket is created either behind the breast tissue or behind the chest wall muscle.

Breast Lift (Mastopexy)

Often chosen after weight loss or childbearing changes breast shape and tone, a breast lift relocates the nipple and areola to a higher position, repositions breast tissue, removes excess lower-breast skin, and reshapes the remaining tissue. Scars run around the areola, vertically down the breast, and along the crease beneath it, though technique variations can reduce visible scarring.

Breast Implants (Textured-Surface)

The shells of textured-surface breast implants use the same silicone elastomer as smooth-surface implants, but a specialized manufacturing process creates a textured outer surface.

Breast Reduction (Reduction Mammoplasty)

Classified as a reconstructive procedure because oversized breasts can interfere with normal function and activity, breast reduction removes excess tissue and skin, repositions the nipple and areola, and reshapes the remaining breast tissue — improving both comfort and proportion.

Buccal Fat Pad

Located above the jawline near the corner of the mouth, buccal fat pads can be reduced in patients with round faces for a more contoured look; removal is approached carefully, since over-removal can lead to a hollow-cheeked appearance with age.

Cannula

A hollow tube attached to a high-vacuum device used to remove fat during liposuction, manipulated within the fat layer beneath the skin to dislodge and extract fat.

Capsular Contracture

The most common complication associated with breast implants, occurring when scar tissue that naturally forms around the implant shrinks and tightens, making the breast feel firmer and, in some cases, causing pain or an unnatural appearance.

Cellulite

The dimpled fat that often appears on the buttocks, thighs, and hips. There is no single cure, but techniques such as releasing the fibrous bands that create the dimpled look, combined with fat grafting, may improve the appearance.

Chemical Peel

A solution applied to the face or specific areas to peel away the skin’s top layers, improving fine lines, wrinkles, and texture. Peel depth is tailored using alpha hydroxy acids, trichloroacetic acid (TCA), or phenol depending on the desired result and patient factors.

Chin Augmentation (Mentoplasty)

Strengthens the appearance of a receding chin by increasing its projection, without affecting bite or jaw function. This can be done by repositioning the chinbone or by placing an implant through an incision inside the mouth or beneath the chin.

Collagen Injections

An injectable protein used to treat facial wrinkles. Patients are typically tested for allergic reaction beforehand, and results require periodic repeat treatment to maintain.

Earlobe Reduction

A brief procedure, often performed alongside a facelift, that removes a wedge of excess earlobe tissue and sutures the edges together to restore natural proportion.

Eyelid Surgery (Blepharoplasty)

Reduces fat that causes under-eye bags and removes wrinkled, drooping eyelid skin to brighten and refresh the eye area. Often combined with a facelift or other facial rejuvenation. Incisions follow the eyelid’s natural contour lines, or can be placed inside the lower lid, leaving thin scars that blend into natural folds.

Facelift (Rhytidectomy)

Reduces sagging skin of the face and neck through incisions placed in the hairline, in front of and behind the ears. Fatty deposits may be removed and sagging muscles tightened before excess skin is removed; scars are typically concealed by hair and makeup.

Fat Injections

Fat withdrawn from one body site can be purified and injected elsewhere — for example, to smooth facial lines or add fullness to the lips. A portion of injected fat is typically reabsorbed by the body over time.

Forehead Lift (Brow Lift)

Corrects forehead wrinkling and sagging brows that develop with age, and can soften horizontal forehead lines and vertical frown lines. Incisions are placed behind the hairline, sometimes performed with an endoscope for shorter incisions; deep tissue is tightened for a fresher, more youthful appearance.

Lasers

Used to treat visible facial blood vessels enlarged by sun exposure and for skin resurfacing to reduce the effects of sun damage — an alternative to chemical peels for some patients.

Lip Augmentation

Can be achieved permanently by surgically advancing the lip with incisions inside the mouth, sometimes adding a dermal-fat graft for fullness, or temporarily with fat or filler injection, which requires periodic repetition.

Lip Lift

Lifts the corners of an aging mouth by removing small diamonds of skin above the corners, raising the lip border into a subtle, more youthful smile.

Lip Reduction

Narrows overly full lips by removing a small strip of inner lip tissue, leaving scars on the outside of the lips that are barely noticeable.

Lipoplasty (Liposuction)

Removes localized fat from the legs, buttocks, abdomen, back, arms, face, and neck using a high-vacuum device, leaving minimal scarring. Liposuction removes fat but does not correct skin laxity or dimpling — a skin-tightening procedure may be recommended when skin elasticity has been lost.

Malar (Cheekbone) Augmentation

Builds up the cheekbones with an implant, typically placed through an incision inside the mouth, or through a lower eyelid or brow lift incision.

Mastopexy

See Breast Lift.

Otoplasty (Ear Surgery)

Repositions ears closer to the head by reshaping the supporting cartilage, typically through incisions behind the ears that conceal resulting scars in a natural skin crease. Can be performed on children as early as age five or six.

Phenol

A chemical peeling agent sometimes used for full-face peels when sun damage or wrinkling is severe, or on limited areas such as deep lines around the mouth. It can permanently lighten treated skin, requiring makeup to blend the demarcation line.

Platysma

The neck muscle that, when tight and firm, gives the area beneath the chin and jawline its youthful contour. It can be tightened during a facelift or as a standalone procedure.

Reduction Mammoplasty

See Breast Reduction.

Retin-A

A topical cream or lotion used to enhance overall skin texture, often prescribed as a pre-treatment before a facelift or chemical peel.

Rhinoplasty (Nose Reshaping)

Alters the size and shape of the nasal bridge and tip, typically through incisions inside the nose. The nasal base or nostrils may also be narrowed, and supporting bone and cartilage adjusted so skin and soft tissue redrape over the new structure.

Rhinoplasty: Open

Benefits patients needing more complex correction or a secondary rhinoplasty. A small external incision across the columella allows the surgeon to lift the outer nasal tissue for full visualization of the internal structures, in addition to standard internal incisions; the resulting external scar typically becomes barely visible.

Rhytidectomy

See Facelift.

SMAS

The superficial musculoaponeurotic system — a layer of tissue covering the deeper cheek structures, continuous with the platysma muscle of the lower face and neck. Some facelift techniques reposition the SMAS along with the skin for a more durable result.

TCA

Trichloroacetic acid, used for peeling of the face, neck, hands, and other exposed skin. It has less bleaching effect than phenol and is well suited to targeted "spot" peeling, with depth adjustable by concentration and technique.

Transconjunctival Blepharoplasty

A lower-eyelid technique performed through an incision inside the eyelid, avoiding any external scar. Best suited when only fat, not skin or muscle, needs to be addressed.