Plastic Surgery for Growth Abnormalities

Growth of a child is long processes and is under the influence of Genes but it can be altered by the environment and various deformities can develop. All bones of the body have growth centers and will grow independently to form the final shape to body & Face.

Face alone has eleven pairs of bones that grow for nearly 17-18 years and give shape to the facial features. The balance between the bones of face may be disturbed and a child may have more growth on one half of face or may have too much or too little growth in the upper or the lower Jaw bones. Deformities like deviated nose, a small chin or in very sever cases facial asymmetry when one half of face is smaller than the other leading to problems with teeth, chewing, Abnormal Smile, Breathing problems and body image

The Nose The commonest problem of Growth is seen in the shape and size of nose leading to breathing problem, defective smile and personality problems. Plastic Surgery provides a balance in the facial features by giving the right shape to nose. Dental irregularities are mostly associated with disproportionate growth of Facial Bones, Diagnosis and correction of these bony deformities before dental correction will give results superior to dental management alone, these problems are easily correctable by plastic Surgery

Growth Abnormalities of Facial Bones other than nose : ( Mild imbalance of facial bones the person often finds his or her Photographs very annoying in sever imbalance the teeth may be misaligned. Corrective surgery of bones is generally required before dental correction. Dental correction follows bone surgery)

Small midface bones : The commonest of these in India is mild to moderate under development of the bones of mid face, this is a problem in which the person appears normal in the front view but appears sad, When these people talk they appear distressed as though scowling although are actually not. The Smile is either very gummy or a toothless smile. The nose in these peoples is bent down and appears sunken in face. In mild forms the teeth are in normal alignment but in sever forms even the teeth become mal aligned. It is totally correctable and is done by Plastic Surgery with no scars.

Small chin or a small lower face is another very common problem the lower lip appears bigs hangs out, the face has a mouse like appearance in sever cases, Anormal nose may appear very large the smile is very defective with show of lower teeth., Diagnosisi is important Treatmetn is by plastic surery thee are no scars.

Large chin, large mid face bones leading to long face and many more such A large lower face bones or large mid face bones ae also seen but are less common and can be corrected by plastic Surgery.

The Developing Breast :
Breast develops at a much later age and so even birth defects in breast are noticed late in life. Too small or non development of Breast, or excessive development of Breast is commonly seen and are correctable by simple plastic Surgery procedures. Nodularity in breast leading to lump or a mass in breast are common in young age these are called Breast mouse(fibro adenoma). Removal of these lumps by plastic Surgery or Endoscopic Plastic Surgery Gives minimum scar and minimum disturbance in shape of breast

Problems with shape of breast are not uncommon; some times the nipple does not develop properly and may lead to problem with breast feeding Plastic surgery offers an answer to all problems related to the developing breast. As is desired the patients the scars are either minimal or not at all.

Excessive fat in a growing boy can convert male hormones in to female hormones these boys are otherwise normal. Evaluation of hormone levels is some times required, the breast once developed has to be removed surgically. Scarless treatment of this distressing problem is by combination of liposuction and endoscopic plastic surgery

Although not very common but excessive development of a part of body can lead to gross deformities these are called gigantism and can involve a single finger or toe and some times the whole of limb. Plastic surgery helps to make the two sides symmetrical. An early consultation when the disparity is first noticed is very desirable.