A First Time For Everything: Four Of The Firsts In Plastic Surgery

5 January 2015
 Categories: , Blog


Plastic surgeries—they're common procedures now, but, like everything else, they had to have their firsts. If you've been thinking about how plastic surgery could affect your life, you might find this list of some of the firsts in plastic surgery interesting.

First Plastic Surgery and Nose Job — 800 B.C.

Humans have been obsessed with looks throughout history, apparently. As early as 800 B.C., Egyptians used shaping tools to reform the faces of their children and themselves to appear more attractive. The first recorded instance of a nose job also took place around this time.

However, the first documented case of plastic surgery occurred in 1917 when Sir Harold Gilles performed a facial skin graft on a WWI soldier named Walter Yeo. The surgery was performed to repair damaged on Yeo's face suffered from the war as a gunner.

The First Facelift — 1901

The first published instance of a facelift comes from Berlin in 1991, although it's believed people were taking measures well before then. It was performed on a Polish woman who wanted her cheeks and the corners of her mouth lifted. These procedures were starting to become requested in the U.S. around the same time and for the same reason, too.

Now, around 126,000 facelifts are performed in the U.S. each year, accounting for about one percent of all plastic surgeries.

The First Breast Augmentation — 1893

The first case of a breast augmentation occurred in Germany nearly eight years before the first face lift. A 41-year-old singer had a growth removed from her breast to prevent the development of cancer. The growth was replaced with a different growth — one from her back — to help her breast keep its shape.

However, the first silicone breast augmentation (or breast implant) occurred in the U.S. in 1962 when a woman scaled up from a B-cup to a C-cup. The surgery was successful and the woman is still alive today.

The First Liposuction — 1978

Liposuction, as a mechanical procedure, has been around since the early 20th century. However, the first cosmetic use of the procedure occurred in 1978 when Dr. Illouz removed fat buildup from the gut of a woman in France. By the end of 2013, nearly 202,000 people in the U.S. visited a surgeon for the procedure, down one percent from the previous year.

If you're interested in cosmetic surgery, visit a local business like Naples Cosmetic Surgery Center.


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