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April 2016
April 2019
Why are more people choosing plastic surgery?
Recent figures that reached a number of top newspapers reveal that plastic surgery is on the rise. Three months into 2019, the data is finally in from 2018 which seems to have been one of the most popular periods for plastic surgery ever. Around 17.7 million people undertook a variety of procedures, from minimally invasive to fully surgical – and that’s just in the United States. Whilst this is only a 2 percent increase from 2017 it is a 163 percent increase from 2000, which shows the massive scale of growth we are dealing with.
The question presents itself: why is plastic surgery getting ever more popular? In this article we break down the data that you might have seen in your headlines recently.
One thing that has a driven rise of procedures is the popularity of social media. Sharing selfies on Instagram or Snapchat is a regular occurrence, and it all centres on the looks. One outlet described ‘Instagram Vanity’ as the leading cause, citing people like Kim Kardashian as role models for plastic surgery. Evidence for this is perhaps in the Brazilian Butt Lift procedure, which accounted for almost 25,000 of procedures in 2018 in the USA alone. For better or worse, more people want to be seen, and they want to make sure they are in shape for the public eye. With social media addiction now a hot topic of debate it is perhaps no surprise that it can be linked to the rise of procedures.
Another thing to note, perhaps more significantly, is the change in what it means to have plastic surgery. Many people once imagined that this meant ‘going under the knife’, where as now it can mean as little as a single injected. Minimally invasive, non-surgical procedures were the majority of the massive number in question. Botox is perhaps the best known, consisting of merely an injection. The jump between 2000 and 2018 for Botox injections is well over 800 percent, and other procedures such as laser hair removal, chemical peels and soft tissue fillers also have a role to play. On the whole these kinds of choices outnumbered surgical ones around 15.9 to 1.8 million!
We must also acknowledge that Plastic Surgery is now an international thing. Clinics have opened up all over the world, as far as India and Mexico, and customers are willing to travel to have their work done. Competitive prices have made it popular for people to take cosmetic surgery holidays, combining plastic surgery with healing ‘down time’. Central European locations such as Prague, Czech Republic have gained a reputation for high quality and reasonable prices, bringing massive numbers of tourists each year.
Plastic surgery is becoming more dynamic, and these reasons examined here just show one portion of the many factors at play in this industry. Whatever your reason, be it social media followers or personal mission, be sure to consult your doctor before undergoing a cosmetic procedure.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/19/millennials-fuel-plastic-surgery-boom-record-butt-procedures.html
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324693.php
