Vaginal Rejuvination, pectoral implants, buttock implants and calf augmentation are all the rage amongst the ultra-shallow these days – at least that’s what the hype would have you believe. In reality, these “fringe” procedures number only in the hundreds a year in the US.
“These trendy new procedures that are supposedly all the rage around the country, simply are not being performed in large numbers,” said ASPS [American Society of Plastic Surgery -ed] President Bruce Cunningham, MD. “We haven’t seen rampant interest in these procedures in our practices and now the statistics show how few of these procedures are actually being performed. That’s not to say that these procedures may not increase in popularity in the future, but right now, they are not as popular as they have been portrayed in the media.”
Reports of the public’s alleged growing interest in vaginal rejuvenation began in 2004. Based on these reports, ASPS tracked this and other touted procedures to verify whether or not the reality equaled the hype. In 2005, just 793 vaginal rejuvenation procedures were performed, according to ASPS statistics. Other “fringe” plastic surgery procedures tracked for the first time in 2005 were: buttock implants (542), calf augmentation (337) and pectoral implants (206).
These procedures are dwarfed when compared to mainstream procedures such as liposuction (323,605), nose reshaping (298,413), breast augmentation (291,350), eyelid surgery (230,697) and tummy tucks (134,746). Overall more than 1.8 million surgical cosmetic procedures were performed in 2005.
While it’s completely beside the point the ASPS is trying to make, it seems a little odd that buttock implants were roughly twice as popular as calf or pectoral implants. Rear-end liposuction, definitely, but why implants? In addition to the hype surrounding elective cosmetic surgery, it’s imporatant to point out that much of plastic surgery is reconstructive, patching over the damage done by cancer, burns, or other trauma.
Link to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.