The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported in a recent article in USA Today that cosmetic procedures rose 5% across the board between 2011 and 2012. ASPS President Dr. Greg Evans of Irvine, CA was quoted from a statement, saying “for the third consecutive year, the overall growth in cosmetic surgery continues to be driven by a significant rise in minimally invasive procedures, while surgical procedures remain relatively stable.”
That is no surprise to Dr. Michael Gray of the Michigan Cosmetic Surgery Center and Skin Deep Spa in West Bloomfield, Michigan. “Here in Michigan I have noticed that exact trend over the past several years. Our center has grown steadily over the past decade as we’ve introduced more procedures to help our patients feel better about themselves,” Dr. Gray explained.
“Our patients come from all over the country and all over the world. What’s most surprising to many of our patients is how quickly we’re able to perform these procedures and how short the recovery time is.”
In the USA Today article, it states that while people may be struggling with gas prices and health care costs, cosmetic plastic surgery procedures actually rose 5% from 2011 to 2012. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, in 2012 14.6 million procedures, including minimally invasive and surgical, were performed in the U.S., according to the organization’s annual statistics.
“For the third consecutive year, the overall growth in cosmetic surgery continues to be driven by a significant rise in minimally invasive procedures, while surgical procedures remain relatively stable,” ASPS President Gregory Evans said in a statement. Minimally invasive procedures include treatments such as Botox, chemical peels and laser hair removal.
Evans says the statistics may show that people are spending more on the minimally invasive procedures because they have less discretionary income to use for surgical procedures, such as liposuction. Cosmetic surgery is usually not covered by health insurance because it is elective.
Some of the other interesting data to come out of the report is that breast augmentation remains the top surgical procedure and male breast reduction (gynecomastia) jumped 5% with close to 21,000 procedures were done.
“Cosmetic surgery just isn’t for the wealthy and celebrities anymore,” Dr. Gray says. “It’s for people who want to look and feel better. Even when times are tough financially, people will find a way to enhance their beauty and improve their health.”
Contact Dr. Michael Gray of the Michigan Cosmetic Surgery Center and Skin Deep Spa at 248.538.3333 or visit anewyou.com.
