Plastic surgery, particularly of the reconstructive variety, for young people has been around for some time. But a new trend is developing that shows an uptick in the number of cosmetic surgeries performed on millennials. Recent statistics collected by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons® (ASPS) indicate that the number of cosmetic surgeries performed annually on Americans between the ages of 18-30 has steadily risen over the past few years.
I’ve previously stated the potential benefits of plastic surgery for teens. A cosmetic surgical procedure performed on a mature, developed teenager can drastically improve their body image and self-esteem. But young people today may be as tempted by exterior forces as interior ones. In a culture brimming with young social media and reality TV stars flaunting the effects of their cosmetic procedures, it’s understandable why more millennials than ever are opting for cosmetic surgery to achieve the look they desire.
Today we’ll be focusing specifically on three of my most popular cosmetic breast procedures and how this growing trend is affecting them:
Breast Augmentation
A breast augmentation is still the most commonly performed cosmetic breast procedure by a long shot, both overall and for millennials. Women between the ages of 20-29 alone accounted for over 79,000 breast augmentation procedures in America in 2015.
Breast Lift
While it makes sense for more women of a younger age to be concerned with the size or symmetry of their breasts than the shape or firmness (issues that regularly become more pronounced with age), the number of breast lift procedures performed on millennials did show a fairly drastic increase in 2015. Over 13,000 breast lifts were performed last year on women between 20-29; a 6% increase from the year before based on the ASPS stats.
Male Breast Reduction
The number of male breast reduction procedures in millennials saw a similar increase. This makes sense when you combine the overall increase of male plastic surgeries performed in recent years with the millennial bump. The stigma of a man receiving cosmetic surgery seems to be waning, as nearly 10,000 male breast reduction procedures were performed last year, a 6% bump from 2014.
Cosmetic surgery is a big decision that should not be rushed. I spend a lot of time with my young patients and their families to ensure cosmetic surgery is right for them and which procedures may be appropriate. You can always contact me, Dr. David Whiteman at Southern Plastic Surgery, with any questions or concerns you have regarding the procedures we perform. Hopefully this has been informative, but feel free to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ for more news and updates.