Plastic Surgery History 101: About Sushruta

It’s time for a bit of a history lesson. Modern plastic surgery is often credited to Jacques Josef and the group of individuals during his time who invented new ways to improve the appearance of people. But there was one man who practiced facial reconstructive surgery way before them.

Image source: quora.com

Almost 2000 years before Joseph and company laid the foundation of facial plastic surgery as the world knows it today, Sushruta, a physician from ancient India, had been helping people with facial defects through plastic surgery. Historians believe that Sushruta is the first person in history to have ever done it.

In fact, the “Susruta-Samhita,” which is based on the work of Sushruta, is one of the most significant surviving documents on the practice. The main characteristic of the “Susruta-Samhita” that historians and medical experts find mind-boggling is how accurate the accounts are to plastic surgery itself. 

According to the Mahabharata, Sushruta comes from a line of healers and sages. His father, Visvamitra himself was known as a legendary sage and progenitor of the Brahmanas.

Sushruta has been a subject of countless research and studies in the past, and there have been instances wherein it was difficult to separate the man from the myth. Though this may be, most historians agree that the accounts of his medical procedures were too accurate to be made from anyone’s imagination.

Image source: Wikipedia.com

Stein Plastic Surgery is a Raleigh, NC-based cosmetic surgery practice. Click here to learn more about the practice and the services it offers.