Every year, the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons conducts a survey to determine the most popular cosmetic procedures for the previous year. I am always impressed how mainstream aesthetic surgery has become. Below are highlights from the survey:
– There were over 10 million surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures performed in the United States in 2012. Surgical procedures accounted for 17% of the total number of procedures and 61% of the total expenditures, with nonsurgical procedures making up 83% of the total number of procedures and 39% of total expenditures.
– From 2011-2012, there was a 3.1% increase in the total number of cosmetic surgical procedures, with almost 1.7 million surgical procedures performed this past year.
– The most popular surgical procedure in 2012 was breast augmentation. In 2006, 383,886 breast augmentation procedures were performed and of those 81% used saline implants and 19% used silicone. In 2012, 330,631 breast augmentation procedures were performed and of those only 28% used saline implants and 72% used silicone.
– Since 1997, there has been almost a 250% increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures. Surgical procedures increased by more than 80%, and nonsurgical procedures increased by 461%.
– The top five cosmetic surgical procedures in 2012 were: breast augmentation (330,631 procedures); liposuction (313,011 procedures); abdominoplasty (156,508 procedures); blepharoplasty (153,171 procedures); rhinoplasty (143,801 procedures).
– The top five nonsurgical cosmetic procedures in 2012 were: Botulinum Toxin Type A (3,257,913 procedures); hyaluronic acid (1,423,705 procedures); laser hair removal (883,893 procedures); microdermabrasion (498,821 procedures); chemical peel (443,824 procedures).
– Women had more than 9.1 million cosmetic procedures, 90% of the total. The number of cosmetic procedures for women increased over 252% from 1997.
– The top five surgical procedures for women were: breast augmentation, liposuction, tummy tuck, eyelid surgery, and rhinoplasty.
– Men had almost 1 million cosmetic procedures, 10% of the total. The number of cosmetic procedures for men increased over 106% from 1997.
– The top five surgical procedures for men were: liposuction, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, breast reduction to treat enlarged male breast, and otoplasty (ear surgery).
– Americans spent almost $11 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2012.Of that total $6.7 billion was spent on surgical procedures; $2 billion was spent on injectables procedures; $1.8 billion was spent on skin rejuvenation procedures; and over $483 million was spent on other nonsurgical procedures, including laser hair removal and laser treatment of leg veins.
– People age 35-50 had the most procedures – over 4 million and 43% of the total. People age 51-64 had 29%; age 19-34 had 19% of procedures; age 65 and over had 8 %; and age 18 and younger had 1%.
– The most common surgical procedure for people age 35-50 was lipoplasty; for people age 51-64 it was blepharoplasty; for people age 19-34 it was breast augmentation; for people age 65 and over it was facelifts. For all four of these age categories the most popular nonsurgical procedure was injections of Botulinum Toxin Type A.
– Where cosmetic surgeries were performed: office facility, 59%; freestanding surgicenter, 24%; and hospital, 15%.
Mark D. Wigod, MD, FACS, providing cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery to Boise, Meridian, Treasure Valley and Southeastern Idaho.
