How common are cosmetic procedures really?

Around $4,875 for the surgeon alone, per ASPS 2024. Facility fees add $1,000 to $3,000 and anaesthesia $500 to $1,500, so the all-in figure usually lands at $7,000 to $12,000 for saline implants and $9,000 to $15,000 for silicone, which carry an extra $1,000 to $1,500 in implant cost. Big cities run 20 to 40% above the national average per RealSelf 2023 and cheaper states 10 to 20% below. Most patients finance it through CareCredit or Cherry on 12 to 24 month interest-free terms. The FDA says implants aren't lifetime devices, so a lifetime cost with one revision can pass $20,000. About 306,000 augmentations were done in the US in 2024.

$4,711 for the surgeon's fee per ASPS 2024, then $6,000 to $10,000 all in for one area or $10,000 to $20,000 for a multi-area "360 lipo" covering abdomen, flanks and back. Abdominal liposuction on its own is typically $4,000 to $8,000 including facility and anaesthesia. Price climbs with the volume removed (outpatient tumescent liposuction is capped at 5 litres, above which you're admitted to hospital) and with high-definition or VASER techniques, which add $2,000 to $4,000. Liposuction was the most common cosmetic surgery worldwide in 2023 at more than 2.2 million procedures per ISAPS, and ASPS counted about 350,000 in the US in 2024. Expect 2 to 3 weeks before desk work and the final shape at 3 to 6 months.

Yes, on the volume the industry counts. The ISAPS global survey grew 40% over the four years to 2023, reaching 34.9 million procedures, 3.4% up on 2022, and 19.1 million of those were non-surgical. Selfies play a part, and by 2020, 75% of surgeons in the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery said patients came in wanting to look better in them. Dental work is following, priced in the dental implant cost calculator.

About 3% of US adults say they've had cosmetic plastic surgery and 5% a non-surgical treatment such as Botox or fillers, in a Pew Research Center survey of 8,750 adults in September 2025. Women are about four times as likely as men to have had either, and among women with upper incomes roughly one in ten has had surgery. Worldwide, ISAPS counts 85.5% of procedures on women.

Because the pressure lands on women, even though the pay evidence doesn't favour them. Hamermesh and Biddle (1994) put the earnings penalty for plainness at 5 to 10%, slightly larger for men than for women, and an experiment by Mobius and Rosenblat (2006) found employers wrongly rate attractive workers as more able. Men are the faster-growing minority, at 14.5% of procedures in the ISAPS 2023 count.

Liposuction, worldwide and in the US, with ISAPS counting more than 2.2 million in 2023. In the US, ASPS 2024 put it first at about 350,000, ahead of 306,000 breast augmentations, 171,000 tummy tucks, 154,000 breast lifts and 121,000 eyelid operations. Among non-surgical treatments nothing comes close to botulinum toxin, at about 9.9 million US procedures in 2024 per ASPS, more than six times all cosmetic surgery combined, with hyaluronic acid fillers second at 5.3 million, then skin resurfacing and laser skin treatments.

The 35 to 54 bracket, per ASPS 2024. Patients aged 35 to 50 account for about 43% of surgical procedures, 51 to 64 for a further 29%, and the over-65s for around 14%. Under-35s are also about 14% of surgery, though they take a far bigger share of non-surgical treatments, neuromodulators and fillers above all. The curve peaks where it does because that's when the money and the reasons arrive together, with sun damage and volume loss piling up through the 30s and 40s and the skin starting to loosen.

Botulinum toxin, by a distance. Botox, with Dysport and Xeomin behind it, runs to millions of treatments a year worldwide in ISAPS counts, and ASPS 2024 recorded about 9.9 million neuromodulator procedures in the US, more than any other cosmetic treatment of any kind. Hyaluronic acid fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane come second at 5.3 million US procedures in 2024, and skin resurfacing, laser skin treatments and lip augmentation fill out the top five. Non-surgical work has grown faster than surgery for a decade, partly because it's easier to get and partly because a younger cohort starts earlier and keeps topping up.

Anything from nothing to a year and a half, depending on what you had done. Botulinum toxin and fillers need no downtime beyond a few days of possible bruising. Rhinoplasty means one to two weeks of visible swelling and bruising, most social life back at two weeks, and the final shape only after 12 to 18 months. Liposuction patients are usually at a desk within a week and off exercise for four to six weeks. A facelift brings two weeks of heavy bruising and swelling, with most people comfortable in company at three to four weeks. Breast augmentation allows light work within a week, with implants settled at three to six months.

They vary by procedure and by who's holding the knife. Breast augmentation carries a 10-year revision or reoperation rate of about 20 to 25% in ASPS data, mostly from capsular contracture, where scar tissue hardens around the implant, and from rupture or exchange. Rhinoplasty revision rates run 5 to 15% in published studies, since the surgery is fiddly and patients expect subtle results. Injectables are safer, with vascular occlusion from filler in an estimated 1 in 50,000 to 100,000 treatments, though it's severe when it happens. Board certification and an accredited facility predict lower complication rates more reliably than anything else.

Yes, though nobody has settled which way the arrow points. By 2020, 75% of the surgeons in the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery's annual survey said they saw patients wanting to look better in selfies, and a 2018 paper in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery coined "Snapchat dysmorphia" for people asking to resemble their filtered image. Heavy social media use and interest in procedures do travel together, but that doesn't tell you which one comes first.

Very, because body dysmorphic disorder is far more common in cosmetic clinics than in the population, and it goes with patients walking away unhappy. BDD, an obsessive preoccupation with a flaw that others can barely see, affects about 1.9% of adults in the community and 13.2% of general cosmetic surgery patients, rising to 20.1% in rhinoplasty clinics, in a 2016 systematic review by Veale and colleagues. People with it report lower satisfaction and ask for revision more often, and the condition can worsen after surgery if the distress underneath is left alone. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons recommends psychological screening at the preoperative consultation.

It changes with the map. In North America breast augmentation and liposuction lead surgical volume, with the US setting the regional pattern. Across East Asia, in South Korea and Japan especially, blepharoplasty and rhinoplasty rank among the commonest operations, and South Korea has the highest per-capita rate in the world by most estimates, with procedures per 1,000 people well beyond any other major market. Brazil, second in the world for total volume after the United States, runs on liposuction and breast augmentation, with abdominoplasty close behind. Local beauty ideals explain part of that and the shape of each country's healthcare market explains the rest, per ISAPS Global Survey 2023.

Mostly good ones, provided they weren't struggling with body image before. Dreher et al. (2016) reviewed 20 studies, pooling 16 of them, and found quality of life improved after aesthetic surgery, with breast reduction patients gaining most in social and physical functioning. Patients with BDD or depression, or with expectations nobody could meet, tend to do worse. That's why the professional bodies treat psychological assessment and expectation management as standard consultation practice.

No. Liposuction is classed as cosmetic, so the bill is yours, and in the US that's $3,600 to $7,000 for a single area and $6,000 to $15,000 for several, covering the surgeon, anaesthesia, the facility and compression garments. New York and Los Angeles typically charge 20 to 40% above the national average, and SmartLipo and other laser-assisted versions cost a little more than standard tumescent liposuction. The fat cells removed don't come back, though put weight on afterwards and it settles somewhere else.

Between $8,000 and $15,000 in the US for a full abdominoplasty, with the surgeon, anaesthesia and facility included, and $5,000 to $8,000 for a mini version that only deals with the area below the navel. Insurance won't pay for a cosmetic tummy tuck. It may pay part of a panniculectomy, which removes a hanging apron of skin, if that skin is causing chronic infections or skin conditions. Tummy tucks are among the most requested procedures after heavy weight loss or pregnancy and are often paired with liposuction in one contouring session.

$7,000 to $15,000 in the US, and where you land in that range depends on how much the surgeon has to do. A tip refinement sits at the bottom and a full structural rhinoplasty that changes both shape and breathing at the top. Revision rhinoplasty, fixing an earlier nose job, costs more than a first operation because it's harder. Insurance may cover part of a functional rhinoplasty for breathing problems and none of a cosmetic one. Swelling lasts 2 to 3 weeks and the final result shows at about 12 months.

Reported prices run $1,395 to $3,500 per area, with multi-area treatments typically totalling $4,000 to $10,000. Sono Bello is a US chain offering TriSculpt laser liposuction under local anaesthetic in an outpatient setting rather than a hospital or surgical centre, which is part of why it undercuts traditional liposuction. The company doesn't publish prices, so you get a number at consultation. Reviews on cost transparency and results are mixed, and outcomes vary a lot between practitioners, so look up the specific location and the surgeon's credentials before you book.

Usually 6 to 12 months for hyaluronic acid fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane. Lips move constantly, so they break filler down faster than most of the face, and a first treatment tends to sit at the short end while repeat treatments last longer as a little scar tissue builds. Thicker, more cross-linked products hold out longest. If you don't like the result, hyaluronidase dissolves it easily and is widely available. Expect $600 to $1,000 a syringe in the US, and most lip treatments need one.