There’s no doubt that aesthetic plastic surgery procedures have increased recently, but to what extent is kind of mind blowing. With the introduction of non-surgical procedures that can present pretty remarkable results, some people thought that actual surgical procedures might start to slow down a bit, but the numbers reported by The Aesthetics Society for 2021 have shown that not to be the case.
Aesthetic plastic surgery and non-surgical procedures spending combined in 2020 for a total of over $9 billion, while for the first 6-months of 2021 we saw spending of upwards of $8.7 billion on aesthetic plastic surgery alone.
That’s $8.7 billion dollars spent on plastic surgery, not including non-surgical procedures, which continue to see a huge boom in popularity due to their non-invasive, less expensive nature.
Overall, there has been consistent growth in plastic surgery procedures for about the last 10 years, so we expected to see numbers rise as we continue to move forward, however with COVID and the economic impacts of the pandemic, I don’t know that anyone expected the numbers to be quite this good.
Why Are People Spending More on Plastic Surgery?
While the COVID pandemic did force a lot of doctors and surgeons to put their practices on hold, it also created new demand for both surgical and non-surgical procedures.
While a lot of people were left unemployed or struggling to get by during points in the pandemic, it also meant that people couldn’t spend money on the luxuries that they were before. Vacations, restaurants, and other events were put on hold due to the spreading of the virus, so people were left with a little more disposable income that they may have been saving up. Not to mention a few rounds of stimulus checks that people weren’t budgeting for at the beginning of the year.
This extra money saved and coming in meant that some people could now afford those plastic surgery procedures they had been thinking about getting. And once the doctors’ offices started to open back up, and cosmetic surgery was able to move forward again, it brought out a lot of people looking to improve their appearance.
But the money isn’t the only reason that more people have been opting for plastic surgery procedures this year.
Working From Home – More Time to Recovery
In addition to having a little extra income, most office workers were still working from home at the start of the year. This meant that they had more time to recover in the comfort of their own home and there was less need to take time off.
Work could still get done while laying in bed recovering from a breast augmentation, but most people would have taken a couple weeks off to heal had they been going into the office. Not to mention people could recover without having their nosey coworkers asking questions. Some people would love to have a cosmetic procedure done but are afraid of what coworkers and friends may think. So having the ability to recover at home with limited external contact is a great option for a lot of people.
Non-Surgical Procedure Boost
Non-surgical procedures saw a huge boost in 2020 and 2021 and a lot of that has to do with the pandemic, but not the way you may think.
We’ve discussed this before, but we couldn’t talk about the increase in dollars spent on plastic surgery without talking about the “zoom effect”.
Many people were forced to do most of their work through zoom, or video conferences, while being in lock down during 2020 and 2021. This caused people to have to stare at their own faces for longer periods of time than they normally would, which also meant they were able to see more imperfections.
HD cameras and high-def computer screens make it very easy to notice little things about your face that you may not like. And while your coworkers probably never noticed them, the fact that people had to stare at a screen that shows their face in the corner all the time, meant people were able to see those flaws more closely.
Non-surgical procedures are great at helping your face and skin look its best while on camera. They are inexpensive, effective, and usually don’t require any downtime to recover. Doctors saw a lot more patients coming in for quick non-surgical treatments this year than they have in the past and some of that has to do with the new work from home culture.
The Growth of Plastic Surgery
While the COVID pandemic and lockdowns did play a part in the boom of plastic surgery mid-2020 into 2021, it’s important to note that plastic surgery has been growing steadily for the last 10 years.
It used to have more of a negative connotation associated with it, but as techniques, procedures, and technology improve, a good plastic surgeon can make it less obvious that you’ve had work done. All of these things combined have led to incredible growth within this field and we’re excited to see where the future takes us.
If you have any questions regarding plastic surgery procedures or would like to setup a consultation, please contact us at Dr. Adams Plastic Surgery in Dallas, Texas today!