It seems everyone wants to know about Plastic Surgery trends. ‘Who is getting what- and why?’
Collecting this kind of information is certainly important to us, in the medical community. It helps us prepare for patients, and their many questions and concerns.
Each year the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) polls its members (Board Certified Plastic Surgeons) in an effort to track the trends of the various procedures.
The latest figures released ( for 2015 cases) show once again, that across the board, plastic surgery procedures are on the increase. In the United States last year, there were 15.9 million cosmetic procedures, both surgical, and minimally-invasive. That’s an increase of 2 percent over the year before.
What the survey also found was that the ‘traditional’ kinds of procedures are still tops on the ‘must have’ list. But, we’re seeing some new trends in the way patients want to make cosmetic changes.
Here’s the breakdown:
TOP 5 PLASTIC SURGERY PROCEDURES
- BREAST AUGMENTATION – Leading the way, Breast Augmentation continues to be the number one surgery, with 279,143 procedures reported. The overall number is down slightly, but still dominates the requested cosmetic procedures.
- LIPOSUCTION – With 222,051 Liposuctions performed, this procedure is extremely popular, and up 5 percent from the previous survey.
- NOSE RESHAPING – The number of people getting surgery to reshape the nose remained stable in the number 3 spot, at 217,979.
- EYELID SURGERY – Upper lids, lower lids, or both. Blepharoplasty was performed 203,934 times.
- FACELIFT – * Facelifts, which fell out of the top 5 for a time, are back up now. 131,106, for an increase of 4 percent.
And, we’re adding a (bonus) number 6 here, because of the consistent and growing popularity of this procedure:
6. TUMMY TUCK – a big jump – 127,967 Abdominoplasty procedures were reported, up 9 percent over the year before.
TOP 5 MINIMALLY INVASIVE PROCEDURES
These- are counted in the millions. Patients are getting Botulinum toxin, Fillers and Peels on a regular basis- often multiple times per year.
- BOTULINUM TOXIN (BOTOX, ETC.) – 7 million
- FILLERS – 2.4 million
- CHEMICAL PEEL – 1.3 million
- LASER HAIR REMOVAL – 1.1 million
- MICRODERMABRASION – 800,340 procedures
WHAT’S THE TREND?
So, what do plastic surgeons make of all these numbers? In terms of surgery, what we’re seeing is more patients interested in lifts and tucks of various places on the body.
Looking back at the numbers over the last 15 years, it’s clear that some surgeries have become much more popular. And some, such as facelifts– while still among the most requested procedures, have decreased a bit. Fillers and Botox-type injections are sometimes allowing people to postpone surgical solutions.
But, there’s no injectable (yet) that lifts a sagging breast, or arm, or buttock, quite like a surgical solution. As far as the biggest surgical trends of the new millennium, Lifts are Up.
- UPPER ARM LIFTS (Brachioplasty) – 4,959% increase since 2000.
- LOWER BODY LIFTS – 3,973% increase
- BUTTOCK LIFTS (Brazilian Butt Lift or Implants) – 252% increase
- BREAST LIFT – 89% increase
Statistics are helpful, but they don’t tell an individual patient’s story. We keep up with the trends and the changes in surgeries and treatments, but most important to us, is the individual. Each patient is unique, and each treatment plan is carefully tailored to that patient to help achieve the individual’s goals in a safe and natural-appearing way.
[Board Certified San Jose Plastic Surgeon Vincent Lepore performs a full range of cosmetic and reconstructive surgeries, as well as minimally invasive procedures in his convenient Silicon Valley office and surgery center. Cosmetic Consultations are offered free of charge. Please call to schedule your appointment – (408) 356-4241.]