The Centre, P.C. - Plastic Surgery Blog

What are the real trends in cosmetic surgery? - Friday, March 28, 2008

A second set of cosmetic surgery statistics has been released. Like the previous ones, released by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, these ones, released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons are not actual values of the number of procedures, but, rather, estimates based on extrapolations from surveys issued to a few cosmetic surgeons. According to these new figures, the top five surgical procedures practiced in 2007 were:

• Breast Augmentation (347,524; up 6 % from 2006)
• Liposuction (301,882; down 0.3 %)
• Rhinoplasty (284,960; down 7 %)
• Blepharoplasty (240,660; up 3 %)
• Abdominoplasty (148,410; up 1 %)

And the top 5 nonsurgical cosmetic procedures practiced were:

• Botox (4,625,192; up 13 %)
• Hyaluronic Acid-based Fillers (1,050,722; up 35 %)
• Chemical Peel (1,024,788; down 4 %)
• Laser Hair Removal (905,940; up 2 %)
• Microdermabrasion (896,505; up 10 %)

Although the two sets of statistics agree that about 11.7-11.8 million procedures were practiced last year, a growth of about 7-8 %, the main disparities come between the top two procedures of both the surgical and nonsurgical lists. The biggest disparity, of course, is between their Botox numbers, where the ASAPS actually lists Botox procedures as decreasing, whereas the ASPS shows them increasing. Both statistical sets list their error as being 3.5 % with a 95 % level of confidence, but the disparity in numbers between the Botox figures is nearly 40 % of the ASPS figure (the higher of the two). Similarly, the disparity between the liposuction figures is over 30 % of the ASAPS figure. Perhaps new tracking methods are needed to better understand the trends in the industry.

What does this mean for you? People tend to recommend and repeat procedures that give good results, so a procedure of increasing popularity often owes its growth to its benefits. With confusion in the statistics, it makes it all the more imperative that you listen to the recommendation of your cosmetic surgeon in deciding on what procedure might give you the best results for your cosmetic goals. To set up your initial consultation, contact the Centre, P.C. today.