Tuesday 29 October 2013

Brief History of Cosmetic Surgery in India

It's believed that the roots of contemporary cosmetic surgery lie in India. Ayurveda (literal meaning: ayu - life, Veda - knowledge), among the Samhitas from ancient India, consists mainly of three parts - Medicine, Surgery and Gynecology / Pediatrics. Acharya Sushrut (or Sushruta - around 400 to 600 B.C.) may be the originator of the surgical procedures mentioned within the Sushrut Samhita. He is deemed to be the father of surgery on the planet. To him is ascribed the world’s first rhinoplasty operation. The Sushrut Samhita describes over 120 surgical instruments, 300 surgical treatments and classifies human surgery in 8 categories. Acharya Sushrut is considered to be the disciple of Dhanwantri, to whom most Indian doctors pray to because the God of Health.
The surgical treatise compiled by Sushruta became so famous it's translated into Arabic.
Another method of rhinoplasty in India, as practiced by Tilemakers utilized the graft of buttock.
After Sushruta, yet another scholar called Vaghbat, who wrote Ashtanga Sangraha and Ashtanga Hridyans, wherein he described rhinoplasty as done by Maharishi Atreya and emphasized the need for the supply of an inner lining by turning on the nasal skin.
When the British ruled India, the rhinoplasty method produced by Sushruta was modified by local surgeons utilizing a rotation flap from the adjacent forehead. This process was practiced by the Marathas of Kumar near Pune, certain Nepali families and Kanghairas of Kangra (Himachal Pradesh).
The very first modern plastic surgery departments were established in India in 1950 at Patna and Nagpur. At the moment, a notable contribution was in the surgeons attached to the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune.
Ever since then, India has made lot of progress in cosmetic surgery, and Indian cosmetic surgeons have led to the advancement of world surgery procedures.