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News and Features

10.2 Million Cosmetic Procedures in 2008

American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery reports liposuction no longer the most popular surgical procedure

March 16, 2009
Press release from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS)

NEW YORK, NY — Over 10.2 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2008, according to statistics released today by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. The Aesthetic Society, after collecting multi-specialty procedural statistics since 1997, says the overall number of cosmetic procedures has increased 162 percent since the collection of the statistics first began. The most frequently performed nonsurgical procedure was Botox injections and the most popular surgical procedure was breast augmentation.

"For the first time in the twelve years these statistics have been collected liposuction is a runner up in popularity to breast augmentation. There is no doubt that this turnabout will generate discussions in the medical community and the public at large," Alan Gold, MD, Aesthetic Society president, reflects that "changes in fashion, i.e. décolletage baring styles, might be a factor behind this change."

Trends and Demographic Data

Top surgical and nonsurgical cosmetic procedures among men and women in 2008:

Surgical	Number of Procedures	Nonsurgical	Number of Procedures
Breast augmentation	355,671	Botox	2,464,123
Lipoplasty (liposuction)	341,144	Laser hair removal	1,280,964
Eyelid surgery	195,104	Hyaluronic acid (including Hylaform, Juvederm, Perlane/Restylane)	1,262,848
Rhinoplasty	152,434	Chemical peel	591,808
Abdominoplasty	147,392	Laser skin resurfacing	570,880

Top cosmetic procedures for women:

Surgical	Number of Procedures	Nonsurgical	Number of Procedures
Breast augmentation	355,671	Botox	2,239,024
Lipoplasty	309,692	Hyaluronic acid (including Hylaform, Juvederm, Perlane/Restylane)	1,200,420
Eyelid surgery	166,426	Laser hair removal	1,101,255
Abdominoplasty	143,005	Chemical peel	554,492
Breast reduction	139,926	Laser skin resurfacing	532,008

Women had almost 92 percent of cosmetic procedures. The number of procedures (surgical and nonsurgical) performed on women was over 9.3 million, a decrease of over 11 percent from the previous year. Surgical procedures decreased 15 percent; nonsurgical procedures decreased by 11 percent. Since 1997, surgical procedures increased 104 percent, while nonsurgical procedures have increased 233 percent.

Top cosmetic procedures for men:

Surgical	Number of Procedures	Nonsurgical	Number of Procedures
Liposuction	31,453	Botox injection	225,099
Rhinoplasty	30,174	Laser hair removal	179,708
Eyelid surgery	28,678	Hyaluronic acid (including Hylaform, Juvederm, Perlane/Restylane)	62,428
Gynecomastia	19,124	IPL laser treatment	46,887
Hair transplantation	18,062	Microdermabrasion	39,824

Men had over 8 percent of cosmetic procedures. The number of procedures (surgical and nonsurgical) performed on men was over 800,000 a decrease of over 21 percent from the previous year. Surgical procedures decreased 18 percent; nonsurgical procedures decreased 22 percent. Since 1997, surgical procedures have decreased over 15 percent while nonsurgical procedures have increased 239 percent.

Frequency of cosmetic procedures by age group:

% of Total	Age	Number of Procedures	Top Surgical Procedure	Top Nonsurgical Procedure
45	35-50	4.6 million	Liposuction	Botox
26	51-64	2.7 million	Eyelid surgery	Botox
22	19-34	2.2 million	Breast augmentation	Laser hair removal
6	65 and over	634,667	Eyelid surgery	Botox
2	18 and under	160,283	Rhinoplasty	Laser hair removal

Racial and Ethnic Distribution

Racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 20 percent of all cosmetic procedures in 2008. Hispanics again led minority racial and ethnic groups in the number of procedures: Hispanics, 8 percent; African-Americans, 6 percent; Asians, 4 percent; and other non-Caucasians, 2 percent.

Location and Fees

Over fifty-three percent (53 percent) of cosmetic procedures in 2008 were performed in office-based facilities; 26 percent in freestanding surgicenters; and 19 percent in hospitals. Americans spent just under $12 billion on cosmetic procedures; $7.2 billion was for surgical procedures, and $4.6 billion was for nonsurgical procedures.

About the ASAPS Cosmetic Surgery National Data Bank

ASAPS, working with an independent research firm, compiled the 12-year national data for procedures performed 1997-2008. A paper-based questionnaire was mailed to 16,000 Board-Certified physicians (6,000 Dermatologists, 6,000 Otolarynologists, and 4,000 Plastic Surgeons). A total of 894 completed and valid responses (461 Plastic Surgeons, 277 Dermatologists, and 156 Otolaryngologists) were received in time for tabulation.

Final figures have been projected to reflect nationwide statistics and are based exclusively on the Board-Certified Plastic Surgeons; Otolaryngologists; and Dermatologists. The findings have been aggregated and extrapolated to the known population of 23,600 physicians who are Board Certified in these specialties. Though the confidence intervals change by procedure, depending on the grouping's sample size and the response variance, the overall survey portion of this research has a standard error of +/- 3.21% at a 95% level of confidence.

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