ASPS Stats for 2010 Show Rebound in Procedures

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons released their annual procedural statistics report yesterday, showing a 5 percent increase in cosmetic procedures for 2010.

According to the ASPS, 13.1 million procedures were performed in the U.S. last year, including plastic surgery and minimally invasive cosmetic treatments. 5.3 million reconstructive procedures were performed as well, showing a 2 percent increase for the year.

The society says this corresponds with a nationwide attitude that the recession is over. “The increase in cosmetic plastic surgery mirrors the rise in consumer confidence throughout most of 2010,” says the official press release.

Plastic Surgery Trends

In 2010, American plastic surgeons performed approximately 1.6 million surgical procedures, and the most popular of those are the following top five:

• Breast augmentation (296,000)
• Rhinoplasty (252,000)
• Eyelid surgery (209,000)
• Liposuction (203,000)
• Tummy tuck (116,000)

The stats for 2010 are showing a rise in the number of facelift surgeries, reportedly 9 percent more than the previous year.

Breast augmentation surgeries increased a modest 2 percent, with silicone gel breast implants now used in 60 percent of the procedures.

Across the board, body contouring after weight loss showed continued growth in popularity. Body lift, arm lift, breast lift and thigh lift all showed a substantial gain.

ASPS President Phil Haeck MD suggests that people have been waiting out the recession to undergo a surgical procedure. “There’s some pent up demand for cosmetic surgical procedures,” he said.  Now he says according to “all indications,” they are once again “willing to spend more to look better.”

Non-Surgical Cosmetic Trends

Non-surgical cosmetic treatments also increased, at about 11.6 million procedures during 2010. The most common were Botox, injectable fillers, laser hair removal, chemical peel and microdermabrasion.

While injectable fillers remain popular, fat grafting seems to be back on the rise. Injections of autologous fat are up 14 percent, according to the ASPS, a trend Dr. Haeck says “could reflect how a patient’s own fat is being used in more creative ways to rejuvenate the face and body.”

See the official ASPS report for more information on the 2010 statistics, including new figures for reconstructive plastic surgery.