Our consultants are two of New Zealand's most experienced and comprehensively trained Plastic, Reconstructive and Cosmetic surgeons, having between them over fifty years experience in their specialty and they keep up to date by meeting the requirements of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Continuing Medical Education Programme.
This means they can offer you good advice about your particular problem and give you appropriate options to help you achieve your expectations. We pride ourselves on the quality of our surgery and excellent supportive post-operative care. Our team of nurses and support staff are highly trained to take care of you and help you make a good recovery. We all love working with our patients to achieve excellent outcomes whether it be for removal of a facial skin cancer, breast augmentation or a facelift.
What is Plastic Surgery?
Plastic surgery covers a wide range of different surgical procedures that repair, reconstruct or replace structures in many different parts of the body including the skin, face and head, hands, breast and abdomen. Surgery for cosmetic enhancement / improvement of all areas of the body is also in the scope of plastic surgery.
Plastic surgery is not called that because of the use of plastic materials but for the reason it is the speciality of remodelling and reshaping malleable human tissues. Plastic is called that because it is malleable when warmed i.e. it becomes soft and can be shaped and modelled in the same sense that surgeons shape and model tissues in reconstruction etc. Plastic surgery was being practised long before modern ’plastics’ were invented. The greek word ’plastikos’ means "mould". Some synthetic materials (plastics) such as polyethylene implants are used in facial bone reconstruction etc.
Plastic surgery can generally be divided into two main types:
- Reconstructive surgery: is performed on parts of the body that are abnormal or have been affected by a birth defect, accident or disease. This includes cleft lip and palate repair, cranio-facial reconstruction, scar revision or reconstruction (including skin grafts) following burns. Microvascular free flap surgery is often used in head and neck reconstruction after major cancer removals and in the lower limb for large traumatic bone and skin defects (after car and motorbike accidents). Surgery is usually performed to improve function, but may also be performed to bring the appearance of a part of the body as close as possible to normal.
- Aesthetic or cosmetic surgery: improves appearance or body image by reshaping features of the face or body e.g. breast enlargement, breast reduction, rhinoplasty, otoplasty, brow lift, face lift, eyelid tightening (blepharoplasty), abdominoplasty, body contouring, liposuction.
Services offered at the Auckland Plastic Surgical Centre include:
- facial rejuvenation (face, neck and brow lifts, eye tucks, lip enhancement, Botox and dermal fillers)
- nose (rhinoplasty) and ear reshaping (otoplasty)
- breast enlargement, reduction, lifting and reconstruction
- abdominal and lower body recontouring
- liposuction & liposculpture
- trauma reconstruction and scar revision
- diagnosis and excision of skin cancers and moles
- surgery for paediatric problems and congenital anomalies e.g. Dermoid cysts, vascular malformations, cleft lip & palate, extra or fused fingers (syndactyly), hypospadius
- a wide range of hand surgical procedures e.g. Dupuytren's contracture, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendon and nerve repairs.
The Auckland Plastic Surgical Centre team is experienced and supportive and will make sure time is available for all your questions and concerns to be addressed.
The Centre also offers free confidential telephone or email information and discussion, with no obligation to proceed with surgery.