Even with a slowly recovering economy, cosmetic procedures grew two straight years in a row. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) recently released statistics stating that 13.8 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures (both surgical and minimally-invasive) were performed in the United States in 2011. This is up five percent from last year. In addition to elective procedures, 5.5 million reconstructive plastic surgery procedures were performed last year, which was also up five percent.
“While the rate of economic recovery in the U.S. is still uncertain, 2011 proved to be a good year for plastic surgery,” said ASPS President Malcolm Z. Roth, MD. “Consumer confidence was up, auto sales rose 10 percent, so it is not surprising that we would also see increased demand for plastic surgery procedures.”
There were nearly 1.6 million cosmetic surgical procedures in 2011, a two percent increase. The top five surgical procedures were:
- Breast augmentation (307,000 procedures, up four percent)
- Nose reshaping (244,000 procedures, down three percent)
- Liposuction (205,000 procedures, up one percent)
- Eyelid surgery (196,000 procedures, down six percent)
- Facelift (119,000 procedures, up five percent)
Since 2004, facelifts are among the top five cosmetic surgical procedures for the first time, substituting tummy tucks. Chin augmentation, which is a procedure popular with men, nearly doubled in 2011 with 21,000 procedures performed. This is up 71 percent. And up 49 percent is lip augmentation, which saw more than 25,000 procedures performed.
As Dr. Roth indicates, “we are seeing notable increases in surgical procedures, such as facelifts, that reflect the demands of an aging boomer population. However, the overall growth in cosmetic procedures is being primarily driven by a substantial rise in minimally-invasive procedures.”
Those minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures that Dr. Roth eludes to increased six percent, with nearly 12.2 million procedures in 2011. The top five minimally-invasive procedures were:
- Botulinum toxin type A (Botox) (5.7 million procedures, up five percent)
- Soft tissue fillers (1.9 million procedures, up seven percent)
- Chemical peel (1.1 million procedures, down three percent)
- Laser hair removal (1.1 million procedures, up 15 percent)
- Microdermabrasion (900,000 procedures, up nine percent)
The largest growth in the minimally-invasive market during 2011 was the use of soft tissue fillers like hyaluronic acid (Restylane®, Juvederm Ultra®, etc.), calcium hydroxylapatite (Radiesse®), and fat injections. More than 1.3 million hyaluronic acid procedures were performed in 2011, up nine percent. There were 286,000 calcium hydroxylapatite procedures, up 36 percent. And there were 68,000 fat injections performed, up 19 percent.