In cosmetic surgery normal body parts of the patient are modified to improve the way the patient looks and thus increase his self-esteem and confidence. Cosmetic plastic surgery is used to return the body part to its normal shape and improve appearance. A normal body part is improved on, for example, if a 50 year old woman has a face of a 50 year old and goes in for a face lift in order to look younger and better than she normally would have then it is cosmetic surgery.

In reconstructive surgery abnormalities in various body parts are corrected. These abnormalities may be due to congenital defects, defects in development, accidents or disease. It is usually performed to improve the functioning of the body part or to make the body part appear normal. In this surgery you take a part of the body that does not appear normal and correct it, to make it appear normal. For example correcting cleft lip or correcting a nose that has been damaged in an accident is reconstructive surgery as the body part is being reconstructed to look normal.