Recently, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons released its annual summary of statistics for plastic surgery and non-surgical cosmetic procedures performed in the US. The report does not have any big surprises, but the information it does contain is very useful for people considering plastic surgery or non-surgical cosmetic procedures.

Cosmetic procedures have increased by about 69% since 2000. In 2000, there were 7.4 million procedures performed, whereas in 2009 there were about 12.5 million. Surgical procedures, however, are down by about 20% while nonsurgical cosmetic procedures have almost doubled in number to nearly 11 million procedures a year. Nonsurgical procedures have surged in popularity for a number of reasons. First, they are inexpensive, costing only a small fraction of the cost of plastic surgery. They are also remarkably effective, providing a dramatic reduction in facial wrinkles and folds, often with just a half-hour treatment. However, the procedures have also grown because they require repetition. Thus, when a person gets BOTOX® Cosmetic injections four times, it counts as four procedures every year. On the other hand, surgical procedures are a victim of their own effectiveness. Rhinoplasty, for example, gives essentially long-lasting results, so everyone who gets good results from a rhinoplasty will never need another one. This contributes significantly to the 34% reduction in rhinoplasties since 2000 (from 389,155 to 255,972 procedures).

Some plastic surgery procedures, on the other hand, have increased significantly since 2000. Breast augmentation has increased by over a third since 2000 (36% from 212,500 to 289,328), and tummy tucks (abdominoplasty) have increased by a remarkable 84% (67,713 to 115,191). The growth in these procedures has been driven first by a more widespread acceptance of plastic surgery by the general public, putting them at a level of acceptance that was previously enjoyed only by rhinoplasty and a few other select procedures. But simply making the procedures more acceptable would not have led to such increases in popularity if they had not also delivered results that are high-quality, enduring, and often translate into a real quality-of-life improvement.

If you are interested in plastic surgery and would like to learn more about your options and which procedures might give you the best results, please schedule a consultation with Dr. Vasdev Rai at the Cosmetic Surgical Center today.