Plastic surgery is on the rise among Americans despite the economic downturn, according to an annual report by major U.S. plastic surgeons’ groups.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons said Thursday that 1.6 million cosmetic surgeries were performed in the U.S. in 2011, continuing the upward trend that began in 2010.
"While the rate of economic recovery in the US is still uncertain, 2011 proved to be a good year for plastic surgery," said American Society of Plastic Surgeons president Malcolm Roth in a statement, as quoted by AFP.
"Consumer confidence was up, auto sales rose 10 percent, so it is not surprising that we would also see increased demand for plastic surgery procedures."
While Americans underwent fewer big procedures like nose jobs and facelifts, they received 12.2 million non-surgical procedures, such as Botox and facial fillers.
Breast augmentation was the most popular surgery (307,000 procedures), followed by nose reshaping (244,000), liposuction (205,000), eyelid surgery (196,000) and facelift (119,000). The most popular non-surgical procedures included Botox injections (5.7 million), soft tissue fillers (1.9 million), chemical peels (1.1 million), laser hair removal (1.1 million) and microdermabrasion (900,000).
Roth said that the rise in procedures "reflect the demands of an aging boomer population."
