DISFIGUREMENTS OF THE FACE AND BODY
For many reasons, I urge you to discuss all problems involving disfigurement with your family doctor. He will evaluate the situation, and if an operation is indicated, he will know how to find a good plastic and reconstructive surgeon. Be sure to consult your doctor about wens, fatty tumours, and other growths, even if their appearance does not particularly trouble you, as it may be necessary to remove them to prevent later difficulty. Never consult a self-styled ‘beauty expert’ in these cases. Your doctor will know who can be trusted in matters such as the removal of unsightly hair.
Squint (strabismus)
Although a squint can be corrected late in life, it is most important to consult a doctor early for this condition. If it is not attended to in time, the vision may be badly impaired.
The eyes of infants tend to waver and turn inwards, but this usually corrects itself by the time the baby is three to six months old. If it does not, or if the eyes are continually crossed in the same way even before the baby reaches six months, consult your doctor. He may be able to start correcting the condition quite early. For example, he may put a patch over the baby’s good eye, forcing him to use the weaker one, instead of letting it get worse from lack of use. He may recommend glasses or exercises or both, making it possible to avoid an operation, or to keep the condition from doing any damage to the vision until the suitable time for an operation.
Artificial eyes and other prosthetic devices
A person who has lost an eye, or who has one that is sightless and disfiguring, can now be fitted with a glass or plastic eye that is indistinguishable from a real one. These prosthetic devices have been improved so tremendously that not only is such an eye absolutely identical with the natural one, but it moves in unison with it, since it is attached to the eye muscles. Even a child can be fitted with one, and a new eye provided as he grows.
Other prosthetic devices such as hands, ears, feet, arms, and legs have been so greatly improved in recent years that they look and function as though they were real. No one, child or adult, need be disfigured today because of an accident or a congenital condition requiring the use of an artificial limb.
These two conditions are similar, resulting from the failure of the two sides of the face to unite properly before the baby is born. This disunity may involve only the superficial tissues, or may extend to the uvula or the hard and soft palates.
The extent of difficulty in sucking, and later in speaking, caused by this condition varies according to its degree. But even if it does not cause much difficulty, it should be corrected by an operation or series of operations as early as your doctor recommends. These operations are performed so skilfully today that it is almost impossible to detect any disfigurement. It is important to start speech therapy as soon as possible after an operation has united the tissues.
Cauliflower and other types of unsightly ears
A cauliflower ear, which we associate with prizefighters, is caused by bleeding beneath the skin of the ear, usually as the result of a blow. The blood eventually becomes a hard substance, but this need not happen. The blood can be drawn off by a physician with a needle before the blood hardens and alters the shape of the ear. Even after the hardening occurs, cauliflower ears can be corrected by surgery.
Large, protruding, or mis-shapen ears can be operated upon with excellent results. There is no reason for being embarrassed by them, or letting your child run the risk of becoming shy and anxious because of constant teasing about his ears.
Mis-shapen nose
Most people have heard about the truly remarkable results that are obtained by plastic surgery to correct the size and shape of the nose. It is even possible to rebuild crushed and destroyed noses by means of implants of tissue from other parts of the body, or replace them with substances such as silver and latex. However, I do want to caution you against having your nose, or that of your child, operated upon by anyone but a really competent plastic surgeon.
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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 5:53 am and is filed under General Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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