TopDocs Article

Americans Spent Nearly $10 Billion on Cosmetic Procedures in 2011.

NEW YORK, NY (March 20, 2012) – The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) today released their 15th annual multi-specialty procedural statistics. Almost 9.2 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2011. The most frequently performed surgical procedure was lipoplasty (liposuction) and the most popular nonsurgical procedure was injections of Botulinum Toxin Type A (including Botox and Dysport).

Cosmetic surgical procedures increased almost 1 percent in the past year, with over 1.6 million procedures in 2011. Surgical procedures accounted for 18% of the total numbers of procedure performed representing 63% of total expenditures.  The top five surgical procedures were: 

For the first time ever this survey asked the doctors for the total number of non-surgical procedures being performed in their practices by both physicians and their physician assistants and nurse injectors. The top five non-surgical procedures were:

"Growth in demand will likely continue to grow as baby boomers and their offspring begin to explore surgical options," said Dr. Kenkel of ASPS. "Minimally-invasive procedures such as Botox and soft tissue fillers work to a point. However, as you age and gravity takes over, surgical procedures that lift the skin and reshape the underlying tissues are necessary in order to show significant improvement." 

Women had almost 8.4 million cosmetic procedures, 91% of the total. The top five surgical procedures for women were: Breast augmentation, Liposuction, tummy tuck, Eyelid surgery, and Breast Lift

Men had almost 800,000 cosmetic procedures, 9% of the total. The top five surgical procedures for men were: Liposuction, rhinoplasty (nose surgery), Eyelid surgery, breast reduction to treat enlarged male breast, and facelift.                                   

Americans spent nearly $10 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2011. Of that total $6.2 billion was spent on surgical procedures; $1.7 billion was spent on injectable procedures; $1.6 billion was spent on skin rejuvenation procedures; and over $360 million was spent on other nonsurgical procedures, including laser hair removal and laser treatment of leg veins

ASAPS, working with an independent research firm, compiled the 15-year national data for procedures performed 1997-2011. A paper-based questionnaire was mailed to 22,700 Board-Certified physicians (8,900 Dermatologists, 8,100 Otolaryngologists, and 5,700 Plastic Surgeons). A second request was mailed to 4,000 Dermatologists and 4,000 Otolaryngologists.  An online version of the questionnaire was also available. A total of 1,107 physicians returned questionnaires, of which 92 were retired or otherwise inactive during 2011. Of the 1,015 active respondents, the sample consisted of 420 Plastic Surgeons, 384 Dermatologists, and 211 Otolaryngologists. 

Final figures have been projected to reflect nationwide statistics and are based exclusively on the Board-Certified Plastic Surgeons; Otolaryngologists; and Dermatologists. The findings have been aggregated and extrapolated to the known population of 24,650 active physicians who are Board Certified in these specialties. Though the confidence intervals change by procedure, depending on the grouping’s sample size and the response variance, the overall survey portion of this research has a standard error of +/- 3% at a 95% level of confidence.