Plastic surgery is a major treatment choice for many individuals who suffer from gender dysphoria (Gender dysphoria is a word that defines a feeling of disquiet caused by a conflict between a person's biological sex and gender identity). The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has established high standards of care for transgender or gender minority patients, including plastic surgery choices such as face masculinization or facial feminization surgery. The goal of these procedures is to achieve "long-term personal happiness with the gendered self in order to maximise overall health."
Gender dysphoria can induce teenagers and adults to have a significant mismatch between their inner gender identity and their given identity for at least six months. Gender dysphoria can also cause major discomfort, affecting your ability to engage in social situations, at work or school, and in other aspects of your life. Gender dysphoria can start in childhood and progress throughout adolescence and adulthood. You may also endure times when you do not encounter gender dysphoria. You may also suffer gender dysphoria throughout puberty or even later in life. Individuals dealing with gender dysphoria undergo a surgical procedure named Gender Affirmation Surgery if needed.
What is Gender Affirmation Surgery?
Gender affirmation surgery, also known as Gender confirmation surgery, refers to any surgical procedure that aims to match a person's internal sense of identity with their exterior physical and sexual features.
Although some individuals may choose just hormone therapy, it is medically and psychologically important for certain transgender, transsexual, or gender nonbinary patients to transform their physical existence in order to relieve gender dysphoria and enhance their quality of life.
Who can take this surgery?
Because all gender transition procedures result in permanent bodily alteration, patients must first fulfill stringent qualifying conditions. Patients must meet the following requirements to be eligible:
- Be one of the legal age
- Complete a full year of continuous hormone therapy (HT)
- Complete 12 months of full-time life as the gender with which they identify.
- Participate in psychotherapy and a mental health assessment
- Show knowledge and comprehension of the procedures, probable problems, recuperation, and rehabilitation.
One might be thinking that is gender affirmation surgery the sole option for treating gender dysphoria?
Of course, No. Surgery is only one of several options. Not every individual who identifies as transgender or nonbinary opts for surgery. And one may select: depending on your age and desires:
Hormone treatment
Hormone Replacement Therapy's (HRT) Effects
Physically, HRT will only go so far, and the outcomes are dependent on a variety of factors, along with the patient's age, weight, and how their body reacts to the hormones. Patients who become women with feminization hormone treatment will notice a reduction in body hair, smoother skin, and an increase in breast size. Their fat will be transferred to their hips, thighs, and buttocks, similar to what happens to women, providing them with bigger hips and a reduced waistline.
Trans males will have a deeper voice, as well as facial and body hair; their breasts will diminish, and their body fat will be reallocated. Menstruation will come to an end, and upper body muscles will grow.
One thing you have to remember is that HRT can affect what constitutes a man or a woman hormonally, but it can't change the form or appearance of your face or the presence (or absence) of Adam's apple, and it can't help you develop - or get rid of - the physical features that allocated your birth gender.
Voice therapy
Voice therapy may help you modify your voice or tone, as well as improve your communication skills, such as introducing yourself using your pronouns. Voice therapy or surgery, also known as Gender affirming voice care, refers to therapies that assist transgender people in adapting their voices to create communication patterns that fit their gender identity. Treatments can aid in the modification of voice features and nonverbal communication patterns.
Speech, voice, and linguistic style are all extremely personal. It might take years to alter your way of speaking, and changes can feel strange or even uncomfortable at first.
Puberty blockers
Puberty blockers, also known as Hormone blockers, are medications that prevent you from going through puberty. This puberty blocker will assist to postpone undesired physical changes that do not correspond to a person's gender identification. Delaying these changes can be a crucial stage in the transition of a young person.
Risk Factors with Gender Affirmation Surgery
Just like all other surgeries, even gender affirmation surgery has a few risks that one can experience after the surgery. The hazards associated with various treatments vary. Individuals who have had bottom surgery, for example, may have alterations in physical desire or difficulty with bladder emptying. Significant problems are uncommon in general, as long as the treatment is performed by a qualified surgeon.
Risk factors that might include are:
- Infection
- Bleeding
- Swelling
- Side effects of Anesthesia
Surgery for Facial Masculinization
Facial masculinization surgery results in a more pointy face, which may seem more masculine. It changes the contour of the bones and soft tissue to give people more acute facial characteristics. For transmen and transmasculine individuals, the face masculinization procedure offers a variety of methods for addressing dysphoria by achieving a more conventionally masculine appearance.
Facial masculinization surgery may entail one or more of the following procedures:
- Forehead augmentation and lengthening
- Jaw augmentation
- Rhinoplasty
- Enhancement of the cheeks
Risk factors of face masculinization surgery
- Bleeding
- Edema
- Hair loss
- Implant migration
- Infection
- Nerve damage
- Numbness
- Poor bone density or incision healing
Facial Feminization Surgery
 Face feminization surgery, or FFS, is a procedure that includes cosmetically reshaping facial features. The idea is to soften masculinized features and transform them into a more feminine shape. FFS is widely explored by transgender women or non-binary trans persons who were born as a man (AMAB). It may also appeal to cisgender women.
 Facial Feminization Surgery may entail one or more of the following procedures:
- Â Forehead contouring
- Eye and lid modification
- Cheek augmentation
- Rhinoplasty (Nose reshaping)
- Lip augmentation
- Jaw angle reduction
- Chin width reduction
- Hair transplantation
Risk factors with face feminization surgery
- Visible scarring
- Facial nerve damage
- Swelling of blood clots within the tissues
- Fluid accumulation
- Numbness
- Infection caused by cheek and chin implants
If you are looking for any plastic surgery or for any face contouring or cosmetic surgeries, do consult our experts, and for further information or queries, do contact our experts. Â Visit Dr Suma Sandhyala, the most qualified cosmetic surgeon for the job. She will be by your side every step of the way, guiding you in a comprehensive, holistic, and empathetic manner. She will also clarify any worries you may have in a kind and calm manner, as well as answer any of your questions and dispel any uncertainties you may have.