One of the most prevalent and serious forms of plastic surgery or cosmetic surgery involves burn victims. Since burn injuries are highly prevalent and can lead to deformities of various kinds, understanding how burn injuries are treated is important to get an idea of what kind of expectations are reasonable as well as how the surgeon and patient relationship differs from most other types of surgery.

Burn Surgery is surgery meant to reconstruct the body and its functions after a burn injury. Burn injuries occur during all types of accidents involving fire or any sort of extremely hot substance. After an individual is burned during an accident, major deformities and disfigurements can occur which require reconstructive Burn Surgery to alter the appearance and functionality of the body and its structures. Most forms of surgery require that skin grafts be performed, which is moving skin from unburned portions of the body to burned areas. The skin is then attached to the burn site and healing ensues. Each patient’s healing results are different and so the results of each graft cannot be 100% predicted. Typically though, those who were in good health prior to a burn have a higher success rate as far as healing time and results. Those who were smokers, in poor health, with poor nutrition, having any sort of autoimmune disease, etc. are less likely to see favorable healing times or results.

When it comes to Burn Surgery, having realistic and positive expectations is the number one most important part of surgery. Since the results vary greatly from person to person, no plastic surgeon can guarantee that any one way of handling the burn will work out to the patient’s satisfaction. If a burn is particularly invasive and there has been extensive damage to the skin and functionality of muscles or tendons, a complete recovery to post-burn status is not generally very optimistic. What Burn Surgery is generally capable of depends on the patient and the burn. There is no really accurate way to deduce how effective surgery will be prior to undergoing treatment. With this in mind, it is a good idea to understand treatment options as fully as possible

Certain Burn Surgery treatments require that the epidermis and partial dermis layers of the skin be removed and placed over the burn site. Others require that both the entire epidermis and dermis be removed. There are other treatment options such as skin flap treatments and tissue expansion. Both treatments involve moving skin from one area of the body to another, as well as helping the body to grow new skin from an area which has been operated on. Since the types of procedures available are rather complex, it is a good idea to sit with a trusted surgeon and speak frankly about what options will work best. Furthermore, understanding that a considerable amount of recovery time is necessary is important so that the patient is fully committed to their treatment and their care. This is an important part of the mental and emotional wellbeing which is necessary if Burn Surgery is to be performed successfully.