These are the most popular cosmetic surgery trends

By Sarah Parsons | Published: 13-Apr-2017

In the US and UK consumers are opting for non-invasive treatments rather than the more drastic alternatives

Non-invasive cosmetic treatments continue to be in vogue for UK and US consumers, according to latest stats.

Individual reports by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the UK’s largest medical comparison website, WhatClinic, reveal that people wanting treatments are shunning surgery in favour of non-invasive procedures.

Americans spent $16bn on plastic and non-invasive surgery in 2016, more than ever before, but the less drastic alterations were by far the most popular.

According to the ASPS, the top treatment was wrinkle treatment injections, with more than seven million used last year.

Hyaluronic acid fillers (2 million procedures) and chemical peels (1.3 million procedures) were in second and third positions.

Interest in surgical procedures is still very much there, but there are now more options for patients

Buttock Augmentation [also referred to as buttock implants or buttock reshaping] was the least popular in the US with only 18,489 operations.

Meanwhile in the UK, cosmetic surgery procedures were down by 10% last year — the lowest in almost a decade.

But non-surgical nose jobs — injecting fillers to alter the nose — in particular increased by 29%, reported WhatClinic.

The UK data is based upon the search terms and online traffic on the comparison website.

Similar to the US, facial injections were one of the most popular with more than 80,000 visitors using the search term ‘derma fillers’.

But in the UK, the majority of consumers favoured lip augmentation with 85,295 site visitors.

Gynecomastia (or reduction of enlarged male breasts) was the least popular procedure with only 11,000 website visitors searching the term.

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Finances appear to be the main motivation for the growing popularity in non-invasive treatment.

Cost factors for most cosmetic surgeries include the type of surgery chosen, location of surgery, surgeon's experience and insurance coverage. Fees (in the US) generally do not include anesthesia, operating room facilities or other related expenses.

“What we’re seeing on the site is an increase in demand for less invasive, non-surgical treatments that can help patients get the aesthetic change they’re looking for, without the cost or recovery time required of cosmetic surgery,” said Phillip Boyle, Head of Consumer Matters for WhatClinic.

“Interest in surgical procedures is still very much there, but there are now more options for patients, especially for those who want to make minor improvements and subtle changes.”

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