Plastic Surgery: Facial Reconstruction

Facial reconstruction is a highly specialized area of plastic surgery that is performed to repair, reshape or restore the appearance of facial features. Typically reconstructive surgery is performed to correct abnormalities or damage to the face caused by an injury, disease, accident, burn, surgical procedure, or birth defect. The nose, ears, chin, cheekbones, eyelids, lips and neckline can all be improved with reconstructive plastic surgery in most cases.

Dr. Ali is a highly skilled and experienced board certified plastic surgeon who has performed more that 8,000 plastic surgeries. He has helped hundreds of patients restore their appearance and regain their confidence and enjoyment of life, with facial reconstruction surgery. He also volunteers annually to travel to third world countries around the world – where he joins a team of surgeons who perform free, life-changing facial reconstruction surgeries on impoverished adults and children.

FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION PROCEDURES

Skin Grafting

Skin grafting is one of the most commonly performed reconstructive procedures. This procedure is used to cover large wounds which, if left untreated, will take months to heal.

During this procedure, skin is harvested from a site (called the donor site) away from the area of injury and is then applied over the wound (called the recipient site). The newly transferred skin re-establishes blood supply by stimulating the growth of very fine blood vessels known as capillaries.

This process takes about one week to complete. During this time it is very important to protect the skin graft form any shearing trauma. Such trauma disrupts the process of capillary formation leading to failure of the skin graft.

There are two types of skin grafts; split thickness grafts and full thickness grafts. Split thickness grafts are use to cover larger areas and have a low rate of failure. These grafts are cosmetically less desirable and are not suitable for coverage over the joints and the face.

Full thickness grafts are excellent for covering wounds over the face and the joints. The cosmetic outcome is quite superior when compared with split thickness skin grafts. It is necessary to ensure that the recipient site has excellent blood flow, thus decreasing the chances of graft failure.

Scar Revision

Each person is unique in their genetic makeup and everyone heals differently. Every patient will scar in a much different way than another patient, from burns, accidents, cuts and surgeries. Dr. Ali offers a wide variety of surgical techniques as well as the most advanced, state-of-the-art laser and radiofrequency technologies to reduce or eliminate facial scars.

Scar revision is considered after adequate time has been given to the body to heal itself. This time is approximately one year after or so after the initial trauma. Dr. Ali will meet with you at the initial consultation and let you know if a scar revision would be beneficial to you.

For successful revision of the scar, it is necessary to perform the surgery very meticulously. The scar is closed in multiple layers and sometimes it is important to change the direction of the scar so that it blends in with the normal skin crease. Frequently, a scar revision can be performed in our office under local anesthetic, allowing you to go home soon after the procedure.