Medical
Breast Augmentation Requested More Than Twice as Often as Breast Reduction
By American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery
Feb 25, 2008 - 1:17:25 PM

Nearly 11.7 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2007, according to statistics released by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. The Aesthetic Society, which has been collecting multi-specialty procedural statistics since 1997 says the overall number of cosmetic procedures has increased 457 percent since the collection of the statistics first began. The most frequently performed procedure was Botox injections and the most popular surgical procedure was liposuction.

"Our statistics confirm that aesthetic plastic surgery is not defined by race or gender," said Aesthetic Society president Foad Nahai, MD. "The number of surgical and nonsurgical procedures performed on men increased 17 percent since last year, and 22 percent of the aesthetic procedures were performed on traditional racial and ethnic minorities."

TRENDS AND DEMOGRAPHIC DATA

Top surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures among men and women in 2007:

  Surgical              # procedures   Nonsurgical           # procedures

  Liposuction              456,828     Botox                   2,775,176

  Breast augmentation      399,440     Hyaluronic Acid         1,448,716
                                       (Hylaform, Restylane)

  Eyelid surgery           240,763     Laser Hair Removal      1,412,657

  Abdominoplasty           185,335     Microdermabrasion       829,658

  Female breast reduction  153,087     Laser Skin Resurfacing  647,707

  Top cosmetic procedures for WOMEN:

  Surgical              # procedures   Nonsurgical           # procedures

  Breast augmentation      399,440     Botox                   2,445,656

  Lipoplasty               398,848     Hyaluronic Acid         1,364,533
                                       (Hylaform, Restylane)

  Eyelid surgery           208,199     Laser Hair Removal      1,226,974

  Abdominoplasty           180,457     Microdermabrasion       743,748

  Breast Reduction         153,087     IPL Laser Treatment     584,530

Women had 91 percent of cosmetic procedures. The number of procedures (surgical and nonsurgical) performed on women was over 10.6 million, an increase of 1 percent from the previous year. Surgical procedures increased 9 percent; nonsurgical procedures decreased by less than 1 percent. Since 1997, surgical procedures increased 142 percent, while nonsurgical procedures have increased 743 percent.

  Top cosmetic procedures for MEN:


  Surgical              # procedures   Nonsurgical           # procedures

  Liposuction              57,980      Botox injection         329,519

  Eyelid surgery           32,564      Laser hair removal      185,684

  Rhinoplasty              31,713      Microdermabrasion       85,910
  Male breast reduction    20,280      Hyaluronic Acid         84,184
                                       (Hylaform, Restylane)

  Hair transplantation     16,491      IP laser treatment      63,177

Men had 9 percent of cosmetic procedures. The number of procedures (surgical and nonsurgical) performed on men was just over 1 million, an increase of 17 percent from the previous year. Surgical procedures increased 5 percent; nonsurgical procedures increased 21 percent. Since 1997, surgical procedures have increased 3 percent while nonsurgical procedures have increased 886 percent.

  Frequency of cosmetic procedures by AGE GROUP:

  % of   Age          # procedures   Top surgical      Top nonsurgical 
  total                              procedure         procedure

  47%    35-50        5.4 million    Liposuction       Botox

  25%    51-64        2.9 million    Eyelid Surgery    Botox

  21%    19-34        2.4 million    Breast            Laser Hair Removal
                                     augmentation

  6%     65 and over  700,096        Eyelid Surgery    Botox

  2%    18 and under  205,119        Cosmetic ear      Laser Hair Removal
                                     surgery

  Racial and Ethnic Distribution

Traditional racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 22 percent of all cosmetic procedures in 2007. Hispanics again led minority racial and ethnic groups in the number of procedures: Hispanics, 9 percent; African-Americans, 6 percent; Asians, 5 percent; and other non-Caucasians, 2 percent.

Location and Fees

Almost fifty-four percent (54 percent) of cosmetic procedures in 2007 were performed in office-based facilities; 28 percent in freestanding surgicenters; and 17 percent in hospitals. Americans spent just over $13 billion on cosmetic procedures; $8.3 billion was for surgical procedures, and $4.7 billion was for nonsurgical procedures.