Plastic surgery is a general term for operative manual and instrumental treatment which is performed for functional or aesthetic reasons. The word "plastic" derives from the Greek plastikos meaning to mould or to shape; its use here is not connected with modern plastics.

The principal areas of plastic surgery include two broad fields.
Reconstructive surgery, including microsurgery, focuses on undoing or masking the destructive effects of trauma, surgery or disease. Reconstructive surgery may include closing defects with flaps-that is, by moving tissue from other parts of the body.
Cosmetic (or aesthetic) surgery is most often performed in order to change features the patient finds unflattering. In many cases, however, there are medical reasons (for example, breast reduction when orthopedic problems are present).

Cosmetic surgery is a very popular avenue for personal enhancement, as demonstrated by the 11.9 million cosmetic procedures performed in the U.S. alone in 2004. Although some may harbor a dim view of cosmetic surgery, seeing it as frivolous, the upsurge in number of procedures performed annually shows that cosmetic surgery has become acceptable to the mainstream American household. Los Angeles or Beverly Hills has become the U.S. capital for cosmetic/plastic surgery. Many of the top doctors in america move there because of the high demand for work.