American Society of Plastic Surgeons Reports 2002 Statistics

 

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Nearly 6.6 million people had cosmetic plastic surgery in 2002, according to statistics released today by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The number of people choosing cosmetic plastic surgery decreased overall 12 percent from 2001, not surprising with the highest unemployment rate in eight years and consumer confidence on a steady decline throughout 2002.

Interestingly, surgical cosmetic procedures remained stable with a 1 percent increase in 2002, according to ASPS statistics, with more than 1.6 million people having procedures. Non-surgical cosmetic procedures decreased 15 percent to 4.9 million people in 2002. Even with this decline, Botox® surged to the top cosmetic procedure, due to its April 2002 approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for cosmetic use. More than 1.1 million people chose to have Botox®, an increase of 31 percent over 2001.

"The demand for cosmetic plastic surgery remains strong, particularly the surgical procedures," says ASPS President James Wells, MD, Long Beach, Calif. "People are willing to make an investment in themselves to achieve the look they want. The stability of the surgical numbers illustrates the time and financial investment patients put into a serious procedure."

"The decline in non-surgical numbers reflects the ‘impulse’ purchases that people may forgo in light of a turbulent economy," adds Dr. Wells. "Of concern to me is the possibility that people may be going to non-medical professionals for non-surgical procedures in spas and strip malls, which wouldn’t be captured in ASPS statistics."

The top five surgical cosmetic procedures in 2002 were nose reshaping (354,327), liposuction (282,876), breast augmentation (236,888), eyelid surgery (230,672) and facelift (117,831). The top five non-surgical cosmetic procedures in 2002 were Botox® injection (1,123,510), chemical peel (920,340), microdermabrasion (900,912), laser hair removal (587,540) and sclerotherapy (511,827).

Gender
Women represent the majority of patients when it comes to cosmetic plastic surgery. More than 5.6 million women (85 percent) and nearly 1 million men (15 percent) had cosmetic plastic surgery in 2002.

The top five surgical cosmetic procedures for women in 2002 were breast augmentation (236,888), liposuction (230,079), nose reshaping (209,123), eyelid surgery (186,522) and facelift (105,850). This is the first time in 10 years that breast augmentation was the most popular cosmetic plastic surgery procedure. The top five non-surgical cosmetic procedures for women were Botox® injection (991,114), chemical peel (771,542), microdermabrasion (771,314), sclerotherapy (495,610) and laser hair removal (484,787).

The top five surgical cosmetic procedures for men in 2002 were nose reshaping (145,204), liposuction (52,797), eyelid surgery (44,150), hair transplantation (26,501) and ear surgery (21,316). The top five non-surgical cosmetic procedures for men were chemical peel (148,798), Botox® injection (132,396), microdermabrasion (129,598), laser hair removal (102,753) and collagen injection (41,193).

Age
The 35-50 age group made up 45 percent of all cosmetic plastic surgery patients with 2.9 million people choosing cosmetic plastic surgery. Liposuction was the number one surgical cosmetic procedure for this age category with 141,186 patients and Botox® injection topped the non-surgical cosmetic procedures for this age group with 610, 226 people.

The 19-34 age group had 1.6 million people choosing cosmetic plastic surgery, representing 24 percent of the cosmetic total in 2002. Breast augmentation was the number one surgical cosmetic procedure with 126,643 people and microdermabrasion was the top non-surgical cosmetic procedure for this age group with 253,016 people.

The 51-64 age group had 1.4 million people, representing 22 percent of all cosmetic surgery patients in 2002. Eyelid surgery was the number one surgical cosmetic procedure with 104,859 people and Botox® injection topped the non-surgical cosmetic procedures for this age group with 272,592 people.

The 65 and over category made up 6 percent of the overall cosmetic plastic surgery population with 396,993 people in 2002. The number one surgical cosmetic procedure was eyelid surgery with 37,790 people and chemical peel was the top non-surgical cosmetic procedure for this age group with 76,163 people.

The age category with the least patients was the 18 or younger group with 223,673 people, representing only 3 percent of all cosmetic surgery patients in 2002. Nose reshaping was the number one surgical cosmetic procedure and chemical peel was the top non-surgical cosmetic procedure with 51,734 people.