Surgery

Depending on the symptoms from which you're suffering, you may require surgery in order to effectively treat your condition. Surgery is a source of much fear for many Americans: doctors often mean pain and responsibility and neither of those are our collective "favorites". Despite the fact that doctor's visits can be painful in the case of biopsy or require great amounts of personal fortitude in keeping a prescription regimen, getting a proper diagnosis and effective treatment is most important.

There are several types of surgery that are performed depending on the severity of your condition and for what you need treatment. The following are various types of surgery and their respective applications. If you need surgery, chances are you’ll wind up undergoing one of the following procedures:

• Excision – Excision is traditional surgery. Scalpel in hand, doctors will cut patients open and do everything from simple mole removal to full heart transplants through this surgical method. Excision leaves scars and leaves the most risk for infection though it is the only option in treating many internal conditions.


• Cryosurgery – If you’re suffering from unsightly moles or skin flaps, cryosurgery is an entirely valid surgery that leaves few if any scars and can be performed in a physician’s office. Using liquid nitrogen, your surgeon will effectively “freeze” away your skin condition.


• Laser Surgery – Laser surgery is especially popular for fixing eye illnesses. Lasik, for example, is great for astigmatism and other related ocular troubles that affect sight. Laser surgery is also revolutionary for internal minor surgeries as it leaves minimal scarring and it is non-invasive, which means there’s less of a chance that the surgery site will become infected.


• Radiation Therapy – Though radiation isn’t always considered surgery, those that do consider it surgery do so because radiation penetrates through the skin into affected areas, usually in efforts to treat cancer, and they are meant to mutate and kill cells of a cancerous tumor or lesion.

Invasive Surgery

Invasive surgery is the most risky type of surgery available. Because of the use of surgical cuts through the flesh, muscle and organ systems of the patient, there is a high risk of infection after the surgery and also a high risk that the patient won’t take well to anesthesia and “going under the knife” during the actual surgery. No other surgery is as versatile as excision: for organ transplants and emergency treatment of trauma, excision is the only option.

In-Office Surgery

Laser, radiation and cryosurgery are all treatments that are typically performed in a physician’s office. These treatments don’t require the sterile environment of an operating room, though there are stipulations when undergoing treatment. Laser treatments require that you not expose the treated area to direct sunlight, for example. Also, radiation therapy may require a certain diet during treatment. Minor excision surgeries can often be done in-office as well.

Laser and Alternative Surgeries

Laser treatment is a new surgery. New applications are found daily. Another popular and effective form of alternative surgical treatment is radiowave therapy.