Plastic Surgery Trends

More than ever, plastic surgery permeates global cultures. The recent advent of reality television shows and dramas centering around plastic surgery further propagates it. It continues to be a favorite topic for talk shows, news segments, and magazine articles. Hollywood loves it. Advertisers promote it.  Plastic surgery is everywhere.
In the global marketplace, advertisements, movies, and social values increasingly promote beauty, health, and youth.  The aim of cosmetic procedures is to enhance ones appearance towards a personal aesthetic ideal.  Technological developments and new procedures, and a proven safety record have increasingly motivated patients to pursue aesthetic procedures.  This has led to an unprecedented explosion in popularity of cosmetic surgery, and the industry has enjoyed substantial growth over the past 15 years.  The overall number of cosmetic procedures has increased 450% since 1997.[1]  Between 1997 and 2000, the number of cosmetic procedures more than doubled, and from 2000 to 2008, it doubled again. The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery has reported strong continued demand for plastic surgery despite the recent economic downturn. [2]  This tremendous growth is expected to continue as people of all ages, occupations, and social classes seek cosmetic surgery.

Cosmetic Surgery Trends in the United States: Plastic surgery has felt the effects of the recession, just as in many other sectors of the marketplace.  However, overall demand remains very high, demonstrating a solid continued demand for cosmetic procedures that is likely to grow.[3]  Patients who put off surgery because of uncertainty in the economy and the job market are continuing to age in modern society and are coming back for tried and true procedures.  Growth in demand will likely continue as the recession eases and baby boomers and their offspring begin to explore surgical and nonsurgical options.  Americans spent nearly $10 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2011.  Of that total $6.2 billion was spent on surgical procedures; $1.7 billion was spent on injectable procedures; $1.6 billion was spent on skin rejuvenation procedures; and over $360 million was spent on other nonsurgical procedures, including laser hair removal and laser treatment of leg veins. There were over 9 million surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures performed in the United States in 2011.

• Surgical procedures account for 18% of the total number of cosmetic procedures and 63% of the total expenditures.
• The top surgical procedures in the United States were:
• Liposuction (325,332)
• Breast Augmentation (316,848)
• Abdominoplasty (149,419)
• Eyelid Surgery (147,540)
• Breast Lift (127,054)
• Rhinoplasty (126,107)
• Facelift (127,054)
• Breast Reduction (112,964)
• Fat Injections (69,877)
• Nonsurgical procedures* (Botox, fillers) account for 82% of the total number of procedures and 37% of total expenditures.
• The top nonsurgical procedures in the United States were:
  • Botulinum Toxin Type A (2,619,739)
  • Hyaluronic acid fillers (1,206, 186)
  • Laser hair removal (919,802)
  • Microdermabrasion (499,427)
  • IPL laser treatment (439,161)
  • Chemical Peel (384,222)
  • Sclerotherapy (354,731)
  • Laser Skin resurfacing (354,587)
  • Noninvasive Tightening (297,795)

  *Survey of plastic surgeons only.  Does not include procedures performed by dermatologists, other physicians, physician assistants, and nurse injectors.
  

• Women had almost 8.4 million cosmetic procedures, 91% of the total.   The top five surgical procedures for women are breast augmentation, liposuction, breast reduction, abdominoplasty, and eyelid surgery.
• Men had almost 800,000 cosmetic procedures, 9% of the total.   The top five surgical procedures for men are liposuction, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, breast reduction to treat enlarged male breast, and facelift. 
• People age 35-50 had the most procedures – almost 4 million and 43% of the total. People age 19-34 had 20% of procedures; age 51-64 had 28%; age 65 and over had 8 %; and age 18 and younger had 1.4%.
• Breakdown of all cosmetic procedures by race in US: Caucasians, 79%; Hispanics, 8%; African-Americans, 7%; Asians, 5%; and other non-Caucasians, 1%.

Cosmetic Surgery Trends Globally: The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) performs a yearly global survey to produce reliable international plastic surgery data.  There were 14.7 million total surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed worldwide in 2011, and 4.3% increase from 2010.[4],[5] 

• There were 6.4 million surgical procedures performed by plastic surgeons in 2011, accounting for 43% of the total number of cosmetic procedures globally.
• The top surgical procedures performed worldwide:
• Liposuction (1,268,287)
• Breast Augmentation (1,205,251)
• Eyelid Surgery (703,610)
• Abdominoplasty (553,399)
• Rhinoplasty (478,023)
• Fat Injections (445,444)
• Breast Lift (444,222)
• Breast Reduction (428,129)
• Facelift (308,926)
• There were more than 8.3 million nonsurgical procedures performed by plastic surgeons in 2011, accounting for 57% of the total number of cosmetic procedures globally.
• The top nonsurgical procedures* performed worldwide:
  • Botulinum Toxin Type A (3,179,652)
  • Hyaluronic acid fillers (1,937,576)
  • Laser hair removal (906,316)
  • IPL laser treatment (454,188)
  • Microdermabrasion (333,414)
  • Chemical Peel (295,888)
  • Noninvasive Tightening (208,788)
  • Laser Skin resurfacing (194,868)

  
  

  *Survey of plastic surgeons only.  Does not include procedures performed by dermatologists, other physicians, physician assistants, and nurse injectors.
  [1] ASAPS Statistics[2] American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery 2011 Statistics on Cosmetic Surgery.  Available at:  http://www.surgery.org/media/statistics[3] http://www.surgery.org/media/statistics[4] ISAPS International Survey on Aesthetic/Cosmetic Procedures Performed in 2010.  Available at: http://www.isaps.org/files/html-contents/ISAPS-Procedures-Study-Results-2010.pdf[5] ISAPS International Survey on Aesthetic/Cosmetic Procedures Performed in 2011.  Available at: http://www.isaps.org/files/html-contents/ISAPS-Procedures-Study-Results-2011.pdf