2016 Cosmetic Procedure Statistics

In looking back at cosmetic procedure statistics for 2016, certain trends continue from previous years. Non-surgical procedures continue to be more popular than surgical ones, and breast augmentation is still the most popular cosmetic surgical procedure. Our staff at Jefferson Plastic Surgery sees these trends played out in our own practice from year to year.

However, there have been some interesting shifts in popularity for certain cosmetic procedures in 2016, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the leading professional society for plastic surgeons. The ASPS collects annual survey data from its member surgeons regarding a variety of demographics regarding patients in their practices.

Lift Your Face Up!

Facelift procedures once again emerged among the five most popular cosmetic procedures, coming in at more than 131,000 surgeries for 2016. This placed it as the fifth most popular cosmetic surgical procedure for that year. This was an increase of 4 percent from the more than 125,000 facelifts performed in 2015 (making it the sixth most popular procedure for that year).

Other facial rejuvenation procedures have shown an increase as well. There were more than 209,000 eyelid procedures performed by ASPS members in 2016, which represented a 2 percent increase from the almost 204,000 procedures performed in 2015. More than 43,000 forehead lifts performed in 2016 were up by 4 percent from the more than 40,000 procedures performed in 2015. Neck lifts also increased from more than 54,000 in 2015 to more than 55,000 in 2015, which was an increase of 2 percent.

Relax and Fill In!

In terms of non-surgical cosmetic procedures, the 2016 ASPS survey also shows a jump in requests from 2015 for both dermal fillers and Botox procedures, both of which rejuvenate the facial appearance.

Botox injections relax the facial muscles around the forehead and brow to minimize the appearance of frown lines and furrows, and help to soften the look of the face. A total of more than 7 million procedures were requested in 2016, which was a 4 percent from more than 6.5 million procedures requested in 2015.

Dermal fillers replace the body’s natural collagen, which helps fill out the skin and underlying tissue over the skeletal framework. As the body ages, it will naturally lose collagen. Dermal fillers replace that lost collagen. More than 2.6 million of these procedures were performed in 2016, which was an increase of 2 percent from the more than 2.5 million procedures in 2015. Interestingly, fat grafting, which involves using the patient’s own fat from other areas of the body to replace lost collagen, made a remarkable jump of 13 percent in just one year, from just more than 70,000 procedures to almost 80,000.

One reason for this renewed interest in facial cosmetic procedures may be the aging of Generation X, which represents those people born between 1965 and 1983. Because the leading edge of this generation is just now turning 50, its members may be seeking out rejuvenation procedures such as facelifts for the first time. The new 2016 ASPS data can be seen here, along with data from previous years.