At this stage in the year establishing the top five surgical and non-surgical treatments in 2016 is something of an educated guess as stats for the whole year aren’t yet available. That being said, you no doubt have a strong sense of which treatments are attracting the most interest and bookings at your own practice.
Each year, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons produces a report based on statistics about surgical and non-surgical cosmetic treatments in the US, which typically reflect the trends we see in the UK.
The top five cosmetic surgical treatments
The 2015 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report showed that the following treatments were the cosmetic surgery big hitters of 2015:
- Breast augmentation – down 2% from 2014, but breast augmentation has been the most popular surgical procedure since 2006; 80% of the implants placed in 2015 were silicone
- Liposuction – up 5% from 2014
- Nose reshaping – no change
- Eyelid surgery – down 1% from 2014
- Tummy tuck – up 9% from 2014
It’s interesting to note that several treatments – while not reaching the top five procedures yet – became highly sought after last year. In the quest for the body beautiful and very probably inspired by the larger-than-life curves of celebrities like Kim Kardashian, the demand for buttock augmentation with fat grafting grew by an incredible 28% from 2014. Lower body lifts were up by eight percent and breast lifts went up by seven percent.
The top five non-surgical treatments
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons also released figures for 2015’s top five cosmetic, minimally-invasive procedures. These were:
- Wrinkle relaxing injections – up 1% from 2014, with 6.7 million people having this treatment
- Soft tissue fillers – up 6% from 2014
- Chemical peels – up 5% from 2014
- Laser hair removal – no change
- Microdermabrasion – down 9% from 2014
If you offer these procedures within your clinic, these stats demonstrate that there is a clear demand within the marketplace for them.
Cosmetic procedures for men
Ninety-two percent of cosmetic procedures are currently performed on female patients. However, men are increasingly turning to surgery, as well as non-surgical procedures.
The 2015 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report contains some helpful information that might guide you towards which treatments should be the focus of your marketing, for the time being at least, if you are trying to boost the number of men coming into your clinic.
You might want to focus on the following surgical and/or non-surgical treatments in your campaigns or as the treatments publicised on your website’s Home page:
Surgical treatments for men
- Nose reshaping
- Eyelid surgery
- Breast tissue reduction for men
- Liposuction
- Facelift
Non-surgical treatments for men
- Wrinkle reducing injections
- Laser hair removal
- Microdermabrasion
- Chemical peels
- Soft tissue fillers
Men currently account for eight percent of all surgical and non-surgical cosmetic treatments, which is an overall increase of one percent from 2014.
Is age just a number?
We can see from the stats published by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons that some procedures are offered to teens as young as 13-years-old. As might be expected, the most popular procedures are nose reshaping (rhinoplasty), surgery to pin prominent ears, and breast reduction surgery in male patients. Some young people venture into the territory of laser hair removal at this stage too.
In the 20-29 age group, the top five surgical procedures are similar to overall trends, while laser skin resurfacing is a prominent non-surgical treatment for this acne-prone age group, and laser hair removal trumps all other procedures.
Breast augmentation and Botox top the two charts for the 30-39 age group, and the stats show a move towards anti-ageing and body sculpting treatments as patients seek to address and prevent the signs of ageing.
The 40 to 54-year-olds account for 49% of all the surgical and non-surgical treatments that are carried out, so the chances are that a great many of your patients fall within this age range. For them, eyelid surgery and liposuction are the most in-demand surgical procedures, while Botox and dermal fillers are the non-surgical treatments of choice.
Cosmetic procedures – both surgical and non-surgical – continue to be in demand for the 55-plus age group. While Botox and dermal fillers maintain their lead in popularity for minimally-invasive treatments, eyelid surgery and facelifts are the most opted for surgical treatments.
Other useful things to know
From the same report, we can also see that 47% of people seeking cosmetic procedures are repeat patients, while 41% opt to have multiple procedures as part of the same treatment plan.
This is food for thought, as you might want to look at how you can encourage patients to book maintenance appointments at the end of their initial treatment or you could book a review appointment several months post-treatment to see whether the results are starting to diminish. You might also want to explore how you can offer complementary procedures or provide skincare ranges within your practice that support the outcomes of a treatment.
2016 and beyond
As for the top five surgical and non-surgical treatments of 2016, only time will fully tell. In an article for the Cosmetic Surgery Times back in January 2016, experts predicted an increase in treatments that tighten, shape and smooth the skin (especially when combined with fat reduction treatment) and/or provide balance and symmetry. The message is that people don’t necessarily want to look younger, they want to look better, so there is a trend towards using a combination of treatments to provide a targeted and ‘whole face’ approach.
As ever, the message is that patients must be given realistic expectations. People are often looking for a quick fix – affordable treatments with little to no downtime – but this may require a compromise in terms of the results that can be achieved. Whether providing or marketing treatments, we all have a responsibility to be honest about this.
If you would like professional advice and support to capitalise on these trends or to market your most popular treatments, give us a call at Cosmetic Digital on 01159 140 640.