The New Demographic

Plastic surgery was, in years past, an activity intended only for females. They were the patients in virtually all cases. Even amongst females, the procedures were considered very taboo. Girls who had plastic surgery were automatically judged by their peers. Plastic surgery has gradually become more socially acceptable. Slowly but surely, society has come to accept the idea of plastic surgery.

While it was often men who pushed their female counterparts to get plastic surgery, or even paid for it, they were–and are–less likely to participate in the procedures themselves. Plastic surgery still is, to some degree, considered taboo amongst males. However, this is increasingly becoming less so.

Historic Change

This is an important development in the history and future of plastic surgery. Particularly as far as demographics go, plastic surgery has had an uphill battle to wage. Social acceptance is just a part of it though. Lower pricing has also been a key element of why more men are utilizing plastic surgery.

Running Through the Numbers

American Society of Plastic Surgeons, men still only account for nine percent of all plastic surgery procedures, which means women still absolutely dominate the industry. This is up two percent from 2009, though, so it does represent a marked improvement. Being able to make small, but steady, gains like that will mean gains every year for the plastic surgery industry. According to those same statistics, men even broke the million procedure mark in 2010, with men accounting for 1.1 million procedures last year alone. 203,000 of those procedures were surgical, while 918,000 were minimally invasive.

In 2010, the most popular plastic surgery procedure (surgical) for males was nose reshaping, with 64,000 of those procedures occurring. This was down 4% from 2009, but still the single most popular procedure by number. Eyelid surgery was also quite popular, with 31,000 of those procedures occurring, which was up 4% over 2009. Liposuction occurred in greater numbers than in 2009, up 7% from the previous year to 24,000 procedures. Breast reductions and hair transplants represent the fourth and fifth most popular surgical procedures, with 18,000 and 13,000 procedures occurring respectively.

Hair transplantations are the only category of plastic surgery procedure, surgical or minimally invasive, in which the number of males receiving the procedure outnumbers the females. The lone exception is Gynecomastia, which is breast reduction in men specifically.

Amongst minimally invasive procedures, botox was the most popular for males, with over 336,000 procedures being performed on males. This represents nine percent growth over the previous year. Laser hair removal, microdermabrasian, chemical peel, and soft tissue fillers rounded out the top five most popular minimally invasive plastic surgery procedures.

What The Future Brings

If plastic surgery procedures continue to grow in popularity amongst males, then it will be a very positive development for the plastic surgery industry. All industry experts pretty much expect that males will continue to grow as customers. Plastic surgeons of Cincinnati should be looking for a way to capitalize on the growth of the male segment of the market. A Cincinnati plastic surgeon is going to eventually realize what a market this is and begin marketing themselves as a specialist for male procedures.

This is a graph that shows some of the statistics discussed above concerning surgical procedures.

http://www.plasticsurgery.org/Documents/news-resources/statistics/2010-statisticss/Charts/2010-top-5-male-cosmetic-surgery-procedures-graph.pdf

This is a similar graph concerning minimally invasive plastic surgery procedures.

http://www.plasticsurgery.org/Documents/news-resources/statistics/2010-statisticss/Charts/2010-top-5-male-minimally-invasive-cosmetic-procedures-graph.pdf

This site has a good deal of information about plastic surgery for males.
http://menshealth.about.com/cs/surgery/a/cosmetic.htm

There is, apparently, a new trend where bullied kids are choosing to have various issues they have with their bodies or faces changed through plastic surgery in an effort to avoid bullying at school. This was an inevitable consequence of the social acceptance of plastic surgery that many people predicted years ago, and, in my opinion, it’s not a terrible thing so long as it stays within reason. Some kids suffer horrible verbal or physical abuse because of disfiguring scars, unsightly birthmarks, or defects which occurred from birth. This article cites a lot of doctors who have concerns about the message that this sends, and that is all very interesting–but this isn’t a trend that is going to reverse.

The number of children and teens getting plastic surgery has gone up 30 percent over the last decade.More and more are resorting to operations to avoid being picked on and bullied.

That increase in the number of children getting plastic surgery isn’t due to more bullying or an increasing severity in bullying, it is because plastic surgery has less social stigma, and rightly so. While the debate rages, plastic surgeon Cincinnati will try to meet the needs of their clients, whether they are twelve or one-hundred and twelve. It is up to each doctor, be they Beverly Hill-based or one of the many Cincinnati plastic surgeons, to decide whether the patient understands the ramifications.

Too often celebrities treat plastic surgery like it is something to be ashamed of. The ones I respect are the ones who come out and say “Yes, I had X and Y done”. Bristol Palin recently admitted to having facial surgery, but she claimed it was “medically necessary”. Whether it was or not, and everyone in the industry seems to have an opinion, she has a right to do whatever she wants with her own face and that’s no one else’s business. She looks great, that’s for sure.

In light of plastic surgery rumors, The Associated Press reports that the daughter of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has decided speak out to US Weekly, where Bristol admits to having a  “necessary” non-cosmetic procedure.

The Palin girl swears she isn’t going to have anymore procedures done, but I don’t see why not, the first one came out pretty well. I know a lot of plastic surgeons Cincinnati who would love to do work on her. Just let one plastic surgeon Cincinnati get hold of her and she would be proclaiming her plastic surgery from the rooftops!

I understand that bullying is a real problem for young adolescents and teens. Indeed, it has always been a considerable problem. However, I have to imagine that a Cincinnati plastic surgeon would not be as likely to perform this surgery. The girl, only seven years old, is trying to avoid suffering from bullying because of the size, shape, and protrusion of her ears. The girl undoubtedly has suffered quite a bit, why else would she have this surgery, but you have to wonder if this isn’t an overreaction. What’s that you say? She hasn’t been bullied yet? It’s a preventative measure? Ugh.

“This was a preventative way, so she wouldn’t get bullied,” Cami Roselles told the morning show. “Kids are mean. That’s just how they are.”

Her daughter Samantha had a procedure called an otoplasty, also known as ear pinning surgery, which can improve the shape, position and proportion of the ear.

Certainly the plastic surgeon and the industry is not to blame for this decision by the parents, anymore than Cincinnati plastic surgeons are to blame for the bad decisions of astronauts–they don’t have dominion over those choices. But, this seems a little out of hand. I have no doubt that the plastic surgery did, indeed, prevent a problem that would’ve arisen later. But still.

Plastic Surgeons Cincinnati, take notice, people are starting to insist on having plastic surgery together. Whether its families, as it is here, or friends, people want to be able to empathize with each other while they are in pain, but still share the experience with one another. In an odd way, it’s sweet, and it’s becoming a trend, rather than just an oddity.

Mirta Ramos and her sister Isabel are inseparable–even in surgery.

The sisters came to Forest Park Medical Center Plastic surgeon Dr. David Azouz last week.

Mirta had a breast lift after having her breast implants removed–she also had liposuction on her back, stomach and arms while Isabel had whole body liposuction.

Having the procedures done at the same time, the same afternoon, is odd–but not incredibly so. Any Cincinnati Plastic Surgeon could handle the sort of request the sisters in the above article had, but it certainly does put a strain on your day. That much is obvious.

Plastic surgery is an industry whose clientele has traditionally been dominated by one half of the species–females. Particularly middle aged and older females. This is a trend that is changing, though, and today many more males are using plastic surgery procedures and techniques to liven up their looks.

Growing numbers of male baby boomers are fighting harder than ever against the effects of aging by enthusiastically embracing facelifts, liposuction, and other cosmetic surgical procedures aimed at making them look younger, new research suggests.

Overall, male plastic surgery rose by over 2% last year and 1.1 million plastic surgery procedures were conducted on males. Facelifts, ear surgeries, and soft tissue fillers were the most popular gains amongst male patients. Plastic Surgeons Cincinnati have performed their fair share of these procedures. A Cincinnati Plastic Surgeon would be wise to begin catering to the male populace.

Plastic surgery, rightly or wrongly, has always been considered an industry which services one or two demographic sets: middle aged or elder women. This is not only incorrect, it’s way off base. Any Cincinnati Plastic Surgeon can tell you that plastic surgeons service a very diverse demographic, including males and females. That plastic surgeon Cincinnati would also tell you that young people also get plastic surgery.

“In 2008 alone, nearly 300,000 teens underwent aesthetic plastic surgery,” said Dr. Frederick N. Lukash, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York and the spokesman for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. “Those numbers are rising, and for every teen that underwent plastic surgery, 10 more are online right now researching the procedure they’ve been thinking about during every gym session, sleepover party or prom.”

This is a growing trend that is unlikely to reverse directions–plastic surgery has become more popular, so it was only natural that a younger demographic start to take notice of the products too. Cincinnati plastic surgeons are likely performing some of those 300,000 plastic surgeries.

It seems like a simple observation–but I had never really thought about it until now. New York plastic surgeons have discovered that certain ethnicities tend to ask for specific procedures. In the case of Dominicans,  they want their rear-ends lifted, in the case of Iranians, they are getting nose jobs. It almost seems like stereotyping to point it out, and yet–there it is. We can analyze it all day, why it occurs, what it means, but people of similar ethnicity tend to ask for similar procedures.

Dr. Kaveh Alizadeh admits that the trends can seem quite stereotypical, but one look at his appointment book, and one can’t help but see what he sees.

“When a patient comes in from a certain ethnic background and of a certain age, we know what they’re going to be looking for. We are sort of amateur sociologists,” said Dr. Alizadeh, who is the president of the Long Island Plastic Surgical Group, which has three clinics in New York.

Of course, this is a trend, not a rule: Iranians might ask for breast implants and Dominicans might ask for botox. Still, plastic surgery is teaching us ethnological lessons now too, in addition to medical ones. Plastic Surgeons Cincinnati should take notice, while Ohio certainly isn’t New York, it is ethnically diverse too. Cincinnati plastic surgeons could learn a lot from this article.

This is an interesting little piece of news. Individuals all over the world have been having plastic surgery procedures which are designed to eliminate wrinkles on the forehead or on the face. However, according to the aforementioned article, there may be an unforeseen side effect too. Unlike many side effects, this is one people will be happy to have.

The treatment deactivates muscle and nerve trigger points in the forehead, temple, nose and the back of the neck.

Following the procedure, 60 per cent of patients reported that their headaches had improved.

Furthermore, 29 per cent said that their migraines were completely eliminated.

By no means should people with migraines or frequent headaches run out and start getting this procedure done, just because they’re hoping for the right side effect, but it is an interesting finding nonetheless. Any Cincinnati Plastic Surgeon will tell you that would be a bad idea. Plastic surgeons Cincinnati know what they are doing, that is why. Nevertheless, readers, let me know what you think of this! Is it just a matter of the patients feeling better, or does it really have some medical effect?

Plastic surgery is nearly ubiquitous now, with virtually everyone at least considering it. Costs have come down, doctors abound, and the procedures are no longer as socially controversial as they were even two decades ago. There is a right way and wrong way to go about having plastic surgery, and many people simply take the wrong path–choosing not to do their homework on their plastic surgeon or on the particular procedure they are having done.

Like with any other surgery there are risks that should be taken into consideration. According to ASPS, patients need to choose a surgeon they can trust with at least six years of surgical training and experience and a minimum of three years in plastic surgery. The surgeon also should operate in an accredited facility and certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery.

This is a good process for finding a good surgeon, but these days there are other things to consider too. For example, the plastic surgeon’s online reputation is worth considering–it could give significant clues about the surgeon’s work, bedside manner, and pricing.