Plastic Surgery - Like Water or Chocolate?

Posted Monday, July 14, 2008 to PROCEDURES > Breast

Posted by mmoore

Ok, so we've got a recession on. Yeah, I know, it's not "technically" a recession because the economy hasn't been in enough of a dump to post negative gross dometic product for 2 quarters. Well, pretty soon two quarters is all this country is going to have left. But enough of me being a nattering nabob of negativism...

I work with a number of plastic and cosmetic surgeons across the country - from a cosmetic practice in Hawaii to a Birmingham, Alabama plastic surgeon - and I've been wondering recently how they are weathering the downturn. I've seen mixed reports in the media, from the New York Times saying that some people believe BOTOX Cosmetic treatments are a new necessity ("water") while other papers and commentators report that the heyday of the cosmetic surgery industry has long past and it's nothing but an indulgence ("chocolate"). I think both of these viewpoints are a little off, and as usual, the truth is in the middle.

From what I've seen, the cosmetic industry is not anywhere near in a state of collapse. Yes, people are considering their decisions more carefully and of course are more sensitive. The result is that the cosmetic surgery decision process is extending out a little further than it used to. Historically, after a person schedules a consultation, they generally come in for that consult, discuss their needs and goals, and get a surgeon's pricing and availability. Some people may book right away while others think it over for days, weeks, even months.

What many practices are seeing right now is careful consideration and people asking themselves, "is now really the right time for me?" There is a certain subset of patients for whom the answer to this question is an absolute "yes." I'm talking about mature Americans (or whatever it is we're supposed to be calling the over 50 crowd these days) who want to rid themselves of the wrinkles, bags, and sagginess that may be holding them back in relationships, job prospects, or just their own personal aesthetic. I'm not going to get into the whole right or wrong of appearance in our society, I'm just laying out the reality.

For these folks, waiting till another day for plastic surgery is just going to make matters worse. that's just another year or two that their wrinkles will deepen, their jowls will sag a bit more, their breasts will droop even further. And many people in this age group still have very large sums of disposable income, particularly as those pesky teens head off to college (and even more particularly when those pesky 20-somethings graduate and the tuition bills stop arriving). It's too early to tell, but I'm betting that when the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) releases its figures for 2008, there won't be a big drop at all in facial cosmetic surgery, which is dominated by age-defying, wrinkle-reducing procedures. And the injectable treatments like BOTOX Cosmetic and Restylane should still climb in popularity.

Which surgeries may drop with the sinking Dow Jones? Well, I think breast augmentation is ripe for a decline, both because this procedure is popular with younger women whose budget may be tight and because we are seeing a steady shift toward a more natural appearance where breast implants don't play such a big role. That's just my speculation, we'll see what happens.

The bottom line? People are always going to want to look good, however "good" is defined. I'm sure all the cosmetic practices in Seattle and Birmingham plastic surgeons out there will keep up with the latest trends and find procedures that make sense for the budgets and goals of a wide variety of Americans for years to come.

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