MedicineNet.com
About Us | Privacy Policy | Site Map
December 2, 2008
  MedicineNet home Picture Slideshows Diseases and conditions Symptoms and signs Procedures and tests Medications Health and Living Health news and views MedTerms medical dictionary  
 Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery) Main Article |  Glossary |  Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery) Index 

Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery) Glossary of Terms

The following are health and medical definitions of terms that appear in the Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery) article.

Abnormal: Not normal. Deviating from the usual structure, position, condition, or behavior. In referring to a growth, abnormal may mean that it is cancerous or premalignant (likely to become cancer ).
See the entire definition of Abnormal

Aging: The process of becoming older, a process that is genetically determined and environmentally modulated.
See the entire definition of Aging

Anesthesia: Loss of feeling or awareness. A general anesthetic puts the person to sleep. A local anesthetic causes loss of feeling in a part of the body such as a tooth or an area of skin without affecting consciousness. Regional anesthesia numbs a larger part of the body such as a leg or arm, also without affecting consciousness. The term "conduction anesthesia" encompasses both local and regional anesthetic techniques. Many surgical procedures can be done with conduction anesthesia without significant pain. In many situations, such as a C-section, conduction anesthesia is safer and therefore preferable to general anesthesia. However, there are also many types of surgery in which general anesthesia is clearly appropriate.

Blepharoplasty: Plastic surgery on the eyelids. Blepharoplasty may be done to correct ptosis (sagging eyelids), remove fatty bulges around the eyes, and eliminate hanging skin from the eyelids.

Condition: The term "condition" has a number of biomedical meanings including the following:

  1. An unhealthy state, such as in "this is a progressive condition."
  2. A state of fitness, such as "getting into condition."
  3. Something that is essential to the occurrence of something else; essentially a "precondition."
  4. As a verb: to cause a change in something so that a response that was previously associated with a certain stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus; to condition a person, as in behavioral conditioning.

Dermatology: 1. The branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases of the skin, hair, nails, oral cavity and genitals. 2. Sometimes also, cosmetic care and enhancement.
Dermatology is literally the study of the skin.

Eye: The organ of sight. The eye has a number of components. These components include but are not limited to the cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina, macula, optic nerve, choroid and vitreous.
See the entire definition of Eye

Eyelash: One of the familiar stiff hairs that project from the margin of the eyelid.
See the entire definition of Eyelash

Eyelid: The lid or cover of the eye, a movable fold of skin and muscle that can be closed over the eyeball or opened at will. Each eye has an upper and a lower lid. An eyelid is also called a palpebra.
See the entire definition of Eyelid

Fat: 1 Along with proteins and carbohydrates, one of the three nutrients used as energy sources by the body. The energy produced by fats is 9 calories per gram. Proteins and carbohydrates each provide 4 calories per gram. 2 Total fat; the sum of saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Intake of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can help reduce blood cholesterol when substituted for saturated fats in the diet. 3 A slang term for obese or adipose. 4 In chemistry, a compound formed from chemicals called fatty acids. These fats are greasy, solid materials found in animal tissues and in some plants. Fats are the major component of the flabby material of a body, commonly known as blubber.

Feet: The plural of foot, both an anatomic structure and a unit of measure.
See the entire definition of Feet

Health: As officially defined by the World Health Organization, a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Hospital: It may seem unnecessary to define a "hospital" since everyone knows the nature of a hospital. A hospital began as a charitable institution for the needy, aged, infirm, or young.
See the entire definition of Hospital

Incision: A cut. When making an incision, a surgeon is making a cut.

Infection: The growth of a parasitic organism within the body. (A parasitic organism is one that lives on or in another organism and draws its nourishment therefrom.) A person with an infection has another organism (a "germ") growing within him, drawing its nourishment from the person.
See the entire definition of Infection back to top

Laser: A powerful beam of light that can produce intense heat when focused at close range. Lasers are used in medicine in microsurgery, cauterization, for diagnostic purposes, etc. For example, lasers are employed in microsurgery to cut tissue and remove tissue.
See the entire definition of Laser

Membrane: A very thin layer of tissue that covers a surface.

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. There are three types of muscle in the body. Muscle which is responsible for moving extremities and external areas of the body is called "skeletal muscle." Heart muscle is called "cardiac muscle." Muscle that is in the walls of arteries and bowel is called "smooth muscle."

Skin: The skin is the body's outer covering. It protects us against heat and light, injury, and infection. It regulates body temperature and stores water, fat, and vitamin D. Weighing about 6 pounds, the skin is the body's largest organ. It is made up of two main layers; the outer epidermis and the inner dermis.


See the entire definition of Skin

Skull: The skull is a collection of bones which encase the brain and give form to the head and face. The bones of the skull include the following: the frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal, sphenoid, ethmoid, zygomatic, maxilla, nasal, vomer, palatine, inferior concha, and mandible.
See the entire definition of Skull

Surgeon: A physician who treats disease, injury, or deformity by operative or manual methods. A medical doctor specialized in the removal of organs, masses and tumors and in doing other procedures using a knife (scalpel). The definition of a "surgeon" has begun to blur in recent years as surgeons have begun to minimize the cutting, employ new technologies that are "minimally invasive," use scopes, etc.
See the entire definition of Surgeon

Surgery: The word "surgery" has multiple meanings. It is the branch of medicine concerned with diseases and conditions which require or are amenable to operative procedures. Surgery is the work done by a surgeon. By analogy, the work of an editor wielding his pen as a scalpel is s form of surgery. A surgery in England (and some other countries) is a physician's or dentist's office.
See the entire definition of Surgery

Tired: A feeling of a lessened capacity for work and reduced efficiency of accomplishment, usually accompanied by a sense of weariness and fatigue.
See the entire definition of Tired

Tissue: A tissue in medicine is not like a piece of tissue paper. It is a broad term that is applied to any group of cells that perform specific functions. A tissue in medicine need not form a layer. Thus,

  • The bone marrow is a tissue;
  • Connective tissue consists of cells that make up fibers in the framework supporting other body tissues; and
  • Lymphoid tissue is the part of the body's immune system that helps protect it from bacteria and other foreign entities.
back to top
 Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery) Main Article |  Glossary |  Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery) Index 




space Related health and medical articles From the Doctors at MedicineNet.com MedicineNet Doctors recommend space
space
MedicineNet Doctors Recommend Latest Medical News
space

WebMD Daily

Get breaking medical news.




Topics Related to Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery)



Glaucoma Laser Treatment Glaucoma Laser Treatment
Glaucoma is a sight-stealing condition caused by pressure in the eye. Now patients are finding results through glaucoma laser treatment. See more WebMD Videos »






Top 3
Blepharoplasty (Eyelid Surgery) Related Articles






Health categories:

Slideshows | Diseases & Conditions | Symptoms & Signs | Procedures & Tests | Medications | Health & Living | News & Views | Medical Dictionary

Popular health centers:

Allergies | Arthritis | Cancer | Diabetes | Digestion | Healthy Kids | Heart | Men's Health | Mental Health | Women's Health | More...

Publications:

ePublications (PDFs) | XML News via RSS | Audio Podcasts | Email Newsletters

MedicineNet.com:

About Us | Privacy Policy | Search Help | Site Map | WebMD® | Medscape® | eMedicine® | eMedicineHealth® | RxList®

HON Code We comply with the HONcode standard for health trust worthy information:
verify here.

©1996-2008 MedicineNet, Inc. All rights reserved. Notices and Legal Disclaimer.
MedicineNet does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.