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Last Updated on June 13, 2023
Every year more than 15 million Americans undergo surgery, according to the American College of Surgeons. What has everyone wanting to go under the knife? These patients’ doctors probably shared with them the many benefits of surgery for their overall health and well-being. Let’s consider how some common surgeries benefit overall health.
Botox to Relieve Headaches
In 2020, 4.4 million people underwent Botox procedures, having a doctor inject the serum into their foreheads, according to Insider. Many of those patients didn’t do it to look younger but to relieve problems with tension headaches and migraines. The medical community now uses Botox as an acceptable treatment for these headaches, but it began as a cosmetic procedure. Doctors noticed the connection between the two items when cosmetic surgery patients mentioned they no longer experienced migraines after wrinkle treatment. A multitude of medical studies later, the FDA approved Botox as a headache treatment.
Knee and Hip Replacements to Help with Back Pain
Remember that children’s song about the hip bone being connected to the thigh bone? Well, the health of people’s legs influences their gate, which influences their posture. Bad posture causes back pain. Having an unhealthy knee or hip replaced completely can result in better gait, better posture, and less back pain.
Looking Younger After Acne Treatments
We tend to associate acne with teens, but many adults also develop acne. While it may seem unfair that some people have wrinkles and pimples simultaneously, medical science accidently solves this problem, too. A common acne-clearing treatment results in clear, rejuvenated skin that appears pink at first, like a baby’s skin. The treatment reveals a lower layer of skin, which lightens to the individual’s normal skin tone during the two to three months following the procedure.
Bariatric Surgery Benefits More Than Weight Loss
Patients of bariatric surgery often report their diabetes becoming easier to manage. One study revealed bariatric surgery as a potential treatment to cause long-term remission for type 2 diabetes. Although the benefits of the surgery take some time to experience, once the patient loses weight, they can experience a remission from obstructive sleep apnea. Successful bariatric surgery can also reduce the risk of coronary disease and stroke, and help blood pressure and cholesterol levels return to normal.
Cosmetic Surgeries that Improve Sight or Breathing
When a patient undergoes eyelid or eyebrow surgery for drooping eyebrows, it can improve the person’s vision and appearance. The surgery also helps those with some conditions that cause dry eyes.
Cosmetic surgery can also help you breathe better. Most people think of rhinoplasty as addressing a crooked nose or reducing its size. It also enhances oxygen flow. Surgeons often use this surgery to repair a deviated septum.
Plastic Surgery Restores Appearance and Function
Plastic surgery helps patients restore normal appearance and function after physical trauma. Although others see the visual change most obviously, these plastic surgeries result in significant quality of life improvements because they also help to restore the patient’s mental health. Skin grafts offer one of the best-known examples of plastic surgery. They restore as much of a patient’s pre-burn appearance after severe burn damage.
A less well-known example, a face transplant, provides new hope for individuals who underwent such severe facial trauma that their own facial structure can not be repaired. This surgery removes the face of a deceased patient whose facial structure resembles that of the trauma patient and transplants it fully to their own. Although they no longer resemble their previous selves, the surgery results in a normal appearance and a functioning mouth, eyes, and nose.
When surgery improves any type of problem, it results in mental health improvements, too. These benefits include improved self-esteem, living a healthier lifestyle, healing trauma, and improved quality of life. Once the surgery alleviates the problem and improves the individual’s health, it also tends to result in an improved outlook on life.
