Plastic surgery continues to become more and more popular in the United States. In 2015 alone, there were 1.7 million plastic surgery procedures performed, about a 2% increase over the previous year. Breast augmentation was the most popular procedure overall, with just under 280,000 performed.
Procedures that are Getting Increasingly Popular
Breast augmentation has been a popular procedure in the United States for a while now, but continues to increase in popularity. There were about 35% more breast augmentation operations done in 2015 than there were in 2000. Dermabrasion was another popular surgery in 2015 that has seen a lot of growth in the past 15 years. There were 87,216 performed in 2015, about a 108% increase over the 42,218 operations done in 2000. While it wasn’t one of the top ten most popular cosmetic procedures of 2015, buttock implants also saw an explosive growth in popularity. Surgeons only conducted 1,356 in 2000 but did 4,767 in 2015, growing 252% more popular in those 15 years.
Popular Procedures on a Downward Trend
Not all of the most popular procedures have seen a consistent increase in popularity, however. In fact, three of the top five most popular cosmetic procedures of 2015 saw a significant (>35%) drop in popularity from 2000. They were, in increasing order of popularity, blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), nose reshaping (rhinoplasty), and liposuction. They saw decreases from 2000 of 38%, 44%, and 37%, respectively. Part of this might be explained by the rise in popularity of similar procedures that achieve the same goal in a different way. Abdominoplasty has surged in popularity since 2000, and accomplishes the goal of getting a flat belly just like liposuction does. For some people it’s a better option than liposuction and vice versa.
Minimally Invasive Procedures Increasingly Popular as Well
Minimally invasive cosmetic procedures are also getting more and more popular. Botulin Toxin Type A, commonly known as Botox, was by far the most popular and has enjoyed an incredible 759% increase in popularity since 2000. It was injected into a staggering 6.75 million people in 2015, much higher than the next closest procedure, soft tissues fillers. With 2.44 million performed in 2015, this is an umbrella term for a number of different procedures that create a smoother or fuller appearance in the face. The next three most popular were, in order, chemical peels, laser hair removal, and microdermabrasion, with 1,310,252, 1,116,708, and 800,340 procedures respectively. All of the procedures mentioned in this section saw a modest growth of a few percentage points from last year.
Plastic surgery will likely continue to get more and more popular as we have seen in the past few years for the foreseeable future. It is becoming increasingly visible and accepted in popular culture due to prominent celebrities being open about their work. The science is also continuing to advance, giving patients less invasive procedures that require less downtime for recovery, an attractive proposition for people thinking about plastic surgery.
