The COVID-19 lockdown changed everything, and it is responsible for literally changing the face of the plastic surgery industry.
Not only did plastic surgeons have to find new ways to serve their clients, but cultural changes also altered the procedures that people wanted.
The dramatic events we all lived through in 2020 have led to a number of trends we’re seeing in plastic surgery in 2021, and they probably won’t be going away any time soon.
Here are a few of them.
The Zoom Effect
Most businesses struggled to stay open during the lockdown, but the average plastic surgery clinic actually saw an increase in business. Experts in the industry are saying that society having to dial into video calls every day has had a direct impact on the demand for plastic surgery. Many are calling it The Zoom Effect.
A recent survey of North American plastic surgeons revealed that 70% reported an increase in business during the pandemic, with 83% of those surgeons attributing the increase to The Zoom Effect.
Focusing on the Face
The Zoom Effect has would-be plastic surgery patients focusing on webcam-focused areas, such as the face and torso.
For decades, the classic boob job (breast augmentation) procedure was the most popular plastic surgery in North America, year after year. However, that all changed in 2020. The top 5 most popular procedures were:
- Nose reshaping (352,555 procedures)
- Eyelid surgery (352,112 procedures)
- Facelift (234,374 procedures)
- Liposuction (211,067 procedures)
- Breast augmentation (193,073 procedures)
The boob job fell to the #5 position, while the top 3 were all facial procedures.
Selfie Improvement
Today’s plastic surgery patient is far more educated and prepared than they may have been 20 years ago. First of all, they can do far more online research. They can Google facelift before and after pictures to set more realistic expectations in their own minds.
From there, they can also set very clear expectations with their surgeons by showing them a touched-up selfie of their own face and telling them, “I want to look like this.”
In fact, a recent survey of plastic surgeons revealed that roughly 55% of their Millennial-aged patients will show them filtered selfies to show them what they want to look like.
Fact-Checking
For a lot of people between the ages of 20 and 40, their journey to getting plastic surgery will start on social media. This can be both good and bad. The good news is that there are a lot of qualified surgeons sharing information on Instagram. However, the bad news is that it has been estimated that only about 18% of the information about plastic surgery on Instagram comes from board-certified surgeons.
Whatever procedure you’re looking to get, it’s crucial that you always make sure you’re working with an experienced and board-certified plastic surgeon. Dr. John Rosdeutscher is an award-winning Nashville Plastic Surgeon with over 20 years of experience and countless awards. He’s currently the head plastic surgeon at Nubody Concepts in Nashville, TN. That is the only way to protect your investment in the procedure and protect your own health.
