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Sure, we’re under way with 2013, but number crunching facial plastic surgeons are still working with some interesting trends first reported during 2011. Those trends are likely to continue into the New Year and give patients a hint on what to look for.
Social media like Facebook became more important, too.
The numbers reveal that the leading invasive cosmetic facial procedure performed on men and women between 22 and 35 was rhinoplasty.
Total U.S. nose jobs done in 2011: 243,772, according to the American Academy of Facial and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery (AAFRPS.) That also includes revision rhinoplasty, the surgical procedure to repair a first nose job that left a patient unhappy. Worldwide, surgeons members of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) reported doing 678,023 rhinoplasty procedures.
(Apparently, nobody yet counts permanent, non-surgical rhinoplasty!)
But you may well wonder, once a person decided on rhinoplasty, how did he or she learn about and it and where to go for information?
Time was, patients anxious for a procedure had an aunt next to a neighbor who once shared an elevator with a plastic surgery patient. The name of that person’s surgeon tumbled down until it reached a would-be nose job patient.
Say goodbye and farewell to that trend and hello to social media.
Fortytwo percent of 2011’s rhinoplasty patients learned about plastic surgery and selected a surgeon by what was written on social media like Facebook or Twitter. But in 2010, only 29 percent used social media.
And why not? Reading friend’s listings, you quickly learn who the surgeon is and how the procedure turned out.
Of course, it’s not a straight shot from Facebook to the operating table. But, with the information from social listings, you now know how to:
- Find that surgeon’s website
- See the before and after pictures
- Read the plastic surgery reviews
- Learn about the surgeon’s training and fellowship, if any
(Read more about selecting a qualified cosmetic surgeon.)
Not for nothing did another statistic jump off the page: those who had plastic surgery, thanks to a friend’s recommendation: 48 percent. But in 2010, 63 percent of cosmetic patients relied on only friends’ referrals.
Also noted: one in four surgeons surveyed saw an increase in Asian and African-American cosmetic surgery patients while three in 10 saw an uptick in Hispanic background patients. Presumably, more surgeons also saw an increase in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern nose job seekers.
