Ryan, Jamie

Definitions

Facial plastic surgery includes cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. Cosmetic procedures include rhytidectomy or ‘facelift’, involving removing wrinkles and sagging from the face; browplasty, a‘brow lift’ or ‘forehead lift’, which lifts eyebrows and smoothens forehead skin; and midface lift or ‘cheek lift’, which involves tightening of the cheeks. Other procedures often accompanying facial plastic surgery are lip enhancement, improving the lips’ fullness; and rhinoplasty or ‘nose job’, reshaping of the nose. Reconstructive plastic surgery is usually performed to improve function, but it may be also done to make people appear more normal. It corrects impairments caused by burns; traumatic injuries, such as facial bone fractures and breaks; abnormalities present at birth, such as cleft palates or cleft lips; developmental abnormalities; infection and disease; and cancer or tumours.moreOtolaryngology deals with diagnosis and treatment of diseases and disorders of the ear, nose, throat (ENT) and related structures of the head and neck, including the sinuses, larynx (voice box), oral cavity, and upper pharynx (mouth and throat). Otolaryngology is commonly called ENT.moreThe thyroid gland is located in the lower part of the neck, below the Adam’s apple, wrapped around the trachea (windpipe). It produces hormones which help regulate the heart rate, blood pressure,body temperature and metabolism (the rate at which food is converted into energy). Thyroid disorders can include an overactive gland, called hyperthyroidism, or an underactive gland, called hypothyroidism. Both can result in an enlarged thyroid gland. Sometimes surgery is required to remove the thyroid gland. A thyroid nodule is a small swelling or lump in the thyroid gland. They are usually examined with imaging such as ultrasound or MRI, and a fine-needle aspiration biopsy, a relatively painless procedure to take tissue fluid samples from the nodule. Thyroid surgery may be required when: the biopsy indicates the nodule is cancerous; the nodules are getting bigger; or the trachea or oesophagus is compressed because the thyroid is very large. Thyroid surgery involves removing part or all of the thyroid gland, under general anaesthesia. Usually, the lobe of the thyroid gland containing the nodule lump is removed. An analysis of tissue will determine if the rest of the thyroid gland should be removed, during the same surgery. (Alternatively, surgery may be done at a later date.)more