Liposuction, nose jobs, breast augmentation, eyelid surgeries and tummy tucks
*originally posted in Long Island Press
Cosmetic surgery is on the rise, and why not? Medical advances have made both the procedures and recoveries safer than ever. According to the most recent statistics by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), more than 10.2 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed in the United States in 2005, up 11 percent from the year before. The statistics show that more Americans are willing to invest in anti-aging remedies. For many, cosmetic plastic surgery is the new take on “growing old gracefully.”
The top five surgical procedures were liposuction (324,000), nose reshaping (298,000), breast augmentation (291,000), eyelid surgery(231,000) and tummy tuck (135,000). This is the first time in six years that facelifts did not make the top five surgical procedures, according to ASPS statistics.
The facelift is still a highly sought-after procedure; nearly 109,000 were performed last year. However, the fact that it didn’t make the top five surgical procedures can probably be attributed to increased consumer demand for minimally invasive injectable wrinkle fillers and fighters as a remedy to combat facial aging.
Minimally invasive cosmetic procedures jumped 13 percent to nearly 8.5 million procedures performed in 2005. The top five minimally invasive procedures were Botox injections (3.8 million), chemical peels (1 million), microdermabrasion (838,000), laser hair removal (783,000), and spider vein removal (590,000). This is the fourth consecutive year that these minimally invasive procedures have been ranked in the top five.
- Here are some more fast facts about plastic surgery:
- Women make up 90 percent of cosmetic surgery patients in the U.S.
- Americans age 35-50 have the largest number of procedures.
- Almost 50 percent of procedures are performed in office-based facilities.
- The most common procedures after massive weight loss are liposuction, tummy tucks, lower body lifts, upper arm lifts and thigh lifts.