The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) released its latest multispecialty statistics March 11, and the 2014 data reveals ups and downs in cosmetic surgery demand.
One notable change was the increase in cosmetic surgery procedures among men, who made up more than 10% of the 10 million-plus cosmetic procedures performed. Surgical and nonsurgical aesthetic procedures in this patient population have soared an additional 43% in five years, with liposuction topping the five most popular procedures among men. Since 2010, these latest stats show notable increases in men opting for facelifts and blepharoplasty, as well as hyaluronic acid, botulinum toxin and more.
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Procedures on the Up
Overall numbers reveal an 86% jump in volume on a year-over-year basis in demand for buttock augmentation. Other procedures to see a big boost: labiaplasty, up 49%, and nonsurgical fat reduction, up 42%.
The most popular surgical procedures for men and women last year: liposuction (at number one), breast augmentation, blepharoplasty, abdominoplasty and rhinoplasty. The winners in the category of nonsurgical aesthetic options: botulinum toxin (at number one), hyaluronic acid, hair removal, chemical peel and microdermabrasion.
Procedures on the Down
The story wasn’t all about increases, however. Americans spent more than $12 billion in 2014, which was about the same as what they spent on aesthetic procedures the year prior.
The number of breast augmentations went down 8.5%in 2014; ear surgery demand decreased by 12.3%; injectables ticked down 6.5% and photo rejuvenation’s popularity fell 18.9%.
The declining demand for breast augmentation, which also was down in 2013, is surprising to Michael Olding, M.D., chief of plastic surgery at George Washington University and ASAPS member.
“Although this may reflect a changing attitude of American women towards larger breasts, it might also be explained in terms of the pent-up demand following the FDA’s 14-year moratorium on silicone gel breast implants, which were then approved by the FDA in 2006,” says Dr. Olding.
He explains that the pent-up demand could have been the result of a combination of women who were unable to have breast augmentation during the 14-year moratorium, as well as those who were initially skeptical about the procedure’s safety and held off having breast augmentation until years later.
“The decline in the 2014 breast augmentation statistics may just represent the numbers minus that backlogged group who have now had surgery,” according to Dr. Olding.
Relevance to Your Practice
The overall increase in procedures indicates an ever-increasing societal acceptance of cosmetic improvement of appearance, according to Michael Yaremchuk, M.D., clinical professor of surgery, Harvard Medical School, and chief of craniofacial surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.
According to Dr. Yaremchuk, nonsurgical procedures continue to increase in numbers for three reasons: “Although the effect is temporary, it is almost immediate with minimal downtime. It allows patients to enter the cosmetic market who otherwise would be precluded by cost. The statistics include dermatologists, who have expanded their scope of practice into the cosmetic market, thereby, making these procedures more accessible.”
In fact, nonsurgical procedures could also be contributing to the decreased demand for facelifts. ASAPS’s 2013 statistics indicated there were 129,807 facelifts that year, versus 126,713 in 2014.
Facelifting, according to Dr. Yaremchuk, is the most effective “rejuvenative” procedure, as well as the most expansive, in terms of cost and downtime.
“Nonsurgical procedures provide temporary improvement and allow a delay in pursuit of this surgical procedure,” he says. “Also, although the economy is theoretically out of the recession, it has not yet returned to its pre-recession vigor, making cost of surgery prohibitive to significant proportions of the population.”
ASAPS stats reflect overall, nationwide cosmetic surgery trends. However, what cosmetic surgery practices experience at a local level might be different, says Dr. Olding.
“For example, my practice has seen a huge increase in the number of facelifts compared to last year,” says Dr. Olding. “By the same token, nationwide, buttock augmentation procedures increased by 86%. Have I seen that statistic reflected as an increase in the number of buttock augmentations? No! Washington, D.C., is a conservative place, where fewer people aspire to have the derriere of Nicki Minaj or Kim Kardashian. In Miami however, even Jennifer Lopez’s buttocks may not be big enough for that aesthetic.”
For a full copy of the report, go to www.surgery.org.
