How Plastic Surgery Can Help Cancer Patients
Plastic surgery often gets a bad rap. And reality TV only glorifies this by portraying it as purely elective procedures sought after by over-the-top people with insane wealth and vanity.
This portrayal is not accurate. Sure, plastic surgery goes the distance in providing a flatter belly or a younger face. And that’s great. There’s a lot to be said about the positive psychological effects of plastic surgery.
But what many don’t consider is the far-reaching range of issues that plastic surgery can address. This includes how plastic surgery can help cancer patients.
How Plastic Surgery Can Help Cancer Patients
It’s no secret that cancer treatments, while often effective, can be hard on the body. Especially in cases where the treatment is drastic. It can change not only how a person looks, but also how they feel. Plastic surgery can help in the following ways:
- Restoring Tissue Damage from Radiation
The side effects from radiation therapy can be overwhelming. Patients report feeling fatigue and experiencing rashes and thinning of the skin. This is because radiation attacks healthy tissue in its fight to eradicate the cancer.
In situations where a specific part of the body is heavily targeted by radiation, the tissue damage can be significant enough to change both the appearance and function of the damaged area. Plastic surgery can help restore these.
- Performing Breast Reconstruction
The most common and well-known plastic surgery procedure associated with cancer treatments is breast reconstruction. And for good reason. Many women who’ve had a cancer-related mastectomy or tumor removal are understandably distraught with the results and seek plastic surgery as a means to restore something closer to their former appearance.
- Minimizing Scarring
Removing certain skin cancers and soft tissue sarcomas isn’t a matter of simply scraping off the surface of the skin. In more severe cases, the skin cancer is removed along with the surrounding margins. Then, wide resections of the skin may be required. Because board-certified plastic surgeons specialize in repositioning healthy tissue from one part of the body to cover the wound of another, they have the expertise to perform such procedures that result in minimal scarring.
- Correcting Deficits from Tumor Removal
Similar to removing skin cancer, tumor removal often requires taking out more than just the tumor. Surgeons often need to remove the surrounding healthy tissue to eliminate the chance of it becoming cancerous. While this can be a life-saving step, it leaves unnatural deficits in the soft tissue which can, fortunately, be addressed through plastic surgery.
- Repairing Specific Damaged Tissue
Plastic surgeons who are skilled in reconstructive microsurgery can utilize these small procedures that use the patient’s own tissues to repair damaged areas. This can involve repurposing skin, fat, muscle, tendon, and possibly even bone to reduce scarring and promote healing and normal function.
Giving Cancer Patients in Treatment New Hope
Cancer treatments can slow or even stop the spread of the disease. But they can also leave lasting marks on the body.
In these cases, plastic surgeons help cancer patients by repairing and restoring these areas. In doing so, they also extend the ability of other surgeons and specialists to keep treating the cancer, giving patients the best chance for a cure.
If you’re struggling with the appearance of cancer treatment deficits, contact us today to find out how we can help. You have enough to focus on without having to deal with that too.
