Plastic Surgery, the Recession, and 2008 Statistics

The statistics for plastic surgery in 2008 are finally in. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, just over 12 million plastic surgery procedures were performed last year, up 3% from 2007. While nonsurgical procedures like Botox (up 8%) and injectable fillers (up 6%) increased to 10.4 million (up 5% overall versus 2007), surgical procedures like breast augmentation (down 12%) and liposuction (down 19%) decreased to 1.7 million (down 9% overall versus 2007). There were over 4.9 million reconstructive procedures performed in 2008, up 3% versus 2007.

We are definitely seeing a trend toward people having less invasive, less expensive procedures performed over the past year, likely as a result of the recession. As plastic surgeons' surgery numbers decline, much of their time is now being spent with a needle, not a knife, and performing more reconstructive procedures. Some surgeons are even trying to resurrect their reconstructive referrals as a way to bring in patients. Here in my state of Michigan, this trend has, unfortunately, been going on for several years.

For the 2008 ASPS statistics, click here.

Thanks for reading.
Michigan-based Plastic Surgeon
Anthony Youn, M.D.: