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Cosmetic procedures increase in 2012

American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports over 10 million cosmetic procedures

March 12, 2013
American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS)

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) today released its 16th annual multi-specialty procedural statistics. In 2012, more than 10 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed by the board certified doctors in the United States who are most likely to perform cosmetic procedures.

The most frequently performed surgical procedure was breast augmentation. Cosmetic surgical procedures increased more than 3% in the past year, with almost 1.7 million procedures in 2012. Surgery accounted for 17% of all procedures performed representing 61% of total patient expenditures.

The top 5 surgical procedures were:

  • Breast Augmentation - 330,631
  • Liposuction - 313,011
  • Abdominoplasty - 156,508
  • Eyelid surgery - 153,171
  • Rhinoplasty - 143,801

"In 2012, breast augmentation replaced liposuction as the most popular surgical procedure. This might have something to do with the increased popularity in silicone gel implants since their return to the market in 2006," said Leo R. McCafferty, M.D., President of the ASAPS. "According to the Society's statistics in 2006, 383,886 breast augmentation procedures were performed and of those 81% were saline implants and 19% were silicone. In 2012, 330,631 breast augmentation procedures were performed and of those only 28% were saline implants and 72% were silicone."

Women had more than 9.1 million cosmetic procedures, 90% of the total. The number of cosmetic procedures for women increased over 252% from 1997. The top five surgical procedures for women were breast augmentation, liposuction, tummy tuck, eyelid surgery and breast lift.

Men had almost 1 million cosmetic procedures, 10% of the total. The number of cosmetic procedures for men increased over 106% from 1997. The top five surgical procedures for men were liposuction, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, male breast reduction and ear shaping.

Americans spent almost $11 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2012. Of that total, $6.7 billion was spent on surgical procedures; $2 billion was spent on injectable procedures; $1.8 billion was spent on skin rejuvenation procedures; and over $483 million was spent on other nonsurgical procedures, including laser hair removal and laser treatment of leg veins.

The most popular nonsurgical procedure was injections of Botulinum Toxin Type A (including Botox and Dysport). Cosmetic minimally-invasive procedures increased over 10% in the past year, with almost 8.5 million procedures in 2012. Nonsurgical procedures accounted for 83% of the total number of procedures performed representing 39% of total expenditures.

The top 5 minimally-invasive procedures were:

  • Botulinum Toxin Type A - 3,257,913
  • Hyaluronic Acid - 1,423,705
  • Laser Hair Removal - 883,893
  • Microdermabrasion - 498,821
  • Chemical Peel - 443,824

This is the second year the survey asked the doctors for the total number of non-surgical procedures performed in their practices by BOTH physicians and their physician assistants and nurse injectors. When procedures performed by physician assistants and nurse injectors are included, the total number of cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed in the United States in 2012 increases to 12.7 million.

Total number of procedures performed in the practices surveyed:

  • Botulinum Toxin Type A: 4,125,179
  • Hyaluronic Acid: 1,806,806
  • Laser Hair Removal: 1,224,920
  • Chemical Peel: 718,465
  • Microdermabrasion: 672,430

The Aesthetic Society, which has collected plastic surgery procedural statistics since 1997, says the overall number of cosmetic procedures has increased 250% since the tracking of the statistics first began. "We are confident that these statistics continue to accurately report cosmetic procedure trends as performed by the physicians who are most likely to perform them," said Dr. McCafferty. "For the past 16 years, the interest in and demand for cosmetic plastic surgery has risen exponentially, a 250% increase in surgical and nonsurgical procedures, and our comprehensive statistics continue to show that."

The Aesthetic Society partnered with RealSelf, the most visited online community for learning about and sharing information and results for medical-beauty treatments, to get information on patients' first-hand experience with procedures. The RealSelf 'Worth It Rating' printed in the statistics report reflects the combined opinions of thousands of RealSelf community members. Each member shares whether an elective surgery or treatment was "worth it", all things considered.

ASAPS Cosmetic Surgery National Data Bank

ASAPS, working with an independent research firm, compiled the 16-year national data for procedures performed 1997-2012. A paper-based questionnaire was mailed to 23,000 board certified physicians (9,300 dermatologists, 8,300 otolaryngologists and 5,400 plastic surgeons). An online version of the questionnaire was also available. A total of 837 physicians returned questionnaires, of which 65 were retired or otherwise inactive during 2012. Of the 772 active respondents, the sample consisted of 365 plastic surgeons, 286 dermatologists and 121 Otolaryngologists.

Final figures have been projected to reflect nationwide statistics and are based exclusively on the board certified plastic surgeons, otolaryngologists and dermatologists. The findings have been aggregated and extrapolated to the known population of 25,750 active physicians who are board certified in these specialties. Though the confidence intervals change by procedure, depending on the grouping's sample size and the response variance, the overall survey portion of this research has a standard error of +/- 3.47% at a 95% level of confidence.