Data recently released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) shows an increase in the number of cosmetic procedures performed in the United States in 2018.
Patients underwent a total of nearly 18 million surgical and minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures, which is almost a quarter million more than in 2017 according to the ASPS annual plastic surgery statistics report. 1.8 million of those were cosmetic surgeries and 15.9 million were minimally invasive.
The number of cosmetic surgeries was up 1% over last year, but down 5% from 2000, while non-invasive procedures have increased 2% over last year and a whopping 228% from 2000.
Breast augmentation remains the most popular
Breast augmentation remains the most popular surgery, while Botulinum Toxin remains the most popular non-invasive procedure. In fact, nothing has changed since last year when it comes to popularity rankings. They remain as follows:
Top 5 cosmetic surgical procedures
- Breast augmentation (313,735 procedures, up 4% from 2017)
- Liposuction (258,558 procedures, up 5% from 2017)
- Nose reshaping (213,780 procedures, down 2% from 2017)
- Eyelid surgery (206,529 procedures, down 1% from 2017)
- Tummy tuck (130,081 procedures, about the same as 2017)
Top 5 minimally invasive cosmetic procedures
- Botulinum Toxin Type A (7.44 million procedures, up 3% from 2017)
- Soft Tissue Fillers (2.68 million procedures, up 2% from 2017)
- Chemical Peel (1.38 million procedures, up 1% since 2017)
- Laser hair removal (1.1 million procedures, down 1% from 2017)
- Microdermabrasion (709,413 procedures, down 4% from 2017)
There were more than 12,000 more liposuction procedures performed in 2018 than in 2017, for an increase of 5%. The procedure, however, has seen a decrease of 27% since 2000. Breast augmentations increased by 4% over last year and 48% since 2000. Buttock augmentations “with fat grafting,” meanwhile, saw an increase of 19%, while buttock implants were down 28%.
Two facial surgical procedures in the top five, nose reshaping and eyelid surgery, decreased slightly in popularity. The report attributes this, at least in part, to an increase in available options, including non-surgical nose reshaping.
Cosmetic procedures enhance wellbeing
Separate research released last year by Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago found that most people who choose minimally invasive cosmetic procedures do so to improve wellbeing.
HealthDay reported that researchers polled about 500 U.S. patients who had undergone some type of non-invasive cosmetic procedure between 2016 and 2017. Most of them were white women, aged 45 and over.
The treatments they had undergone included “laser and light treatments for brown spots, blood vessels, wrinkle reduction, scar treatment and hair removal; chemical peels; non-surgical skin tightening and fat reduction with radiofrequency energy, cold treatment, or ultrasound.”
The results revealed that nearly 70% chose the procedure to improve their psychological wellbeing, while more than half wanted to boost their confidence, look “professional” at work, or protect their health.
“Patients’ motivations for cosmetic procedures are not trivial,” study author Dr. Murad Alam, is quoted as saying. “People who get such treatments are sensible, normal people who are not just obsessed with their appearance. They have a range of motivations.”
The most common reasons, Alam said, were a desire “to feel happier and more confident in themselves, with overall better quality of life.”