Why Nose Jobs, Eyelifts, and Facelifts Overtook Boob Jobs in 2020

The year 2020 may have changed the face of the plastic surgery industry forever, with a new emphasis on the face.

For years, the famed boob job (breast augmentation procedure) consistently ranked in the top spot as the most popular plastic surgery in North America, according to the stats released each year by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). But in 2020, it was actually knocked all the way down to the #5 spot and was displaced by 3 facial procedures.

The top 5 most popular procedures were:

1. Nose reshaping (352,555 procedures)
2. Eyelid surgery (352,112 procedures)
3. Facelift (234,374 procedures)
4. Liposuction (211,067 procedures)
5. Breast augmentation (193,073 procedures)

This represents a massive shift for the industry. Those surgeries would typically all rank in the top 5 in different combinations over the years, but this is the first year since 2005 that breast augmentation wasn't the most popular procedure.

So what happened?

The Lockdown Changed Things

The pandemic lockdown has actually created a very unique opportunity to get plastic surgery.

If you're thinking about getting a facelift, the first questions you typically ask are, “How long is the recovery period and how much work will I have to miss?” If you get a facelift in the locked-down and work-from-home world, you no longer have to show up to the office. You can work from home and discreetly do your post-op recovery without missing any time.

If you were on the fence about a facelift or a nose job for a few years, this new opportunity may have been the final nudge you needed to take the leap. Or, if you were thinking about a non-surgical procedure like Botox, you might be encouraged to go all-out and get a full-blown surgery, now that recovery time is a non-factor.

The Zoom Effect

Further data from The American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) revealed that 70% of surveyed surgeons saw an increase in business during the pandemic lockdown, and 83% of those respondents attributed the spike to patients wanting to look better on video calls. This has been dubbed The Zoom Boom.

People are now feeling the need to look camera-ready every morning as they log into their video meetings. They also feel like they have aged 12 years over the last 12 months, while they are seeing new sagging, wrinkles, and double chins showing up on their faces.

There is currently an all-time high number of people considering plastic surgery. According to another survey by the ASPS, 49% of surveyed people are currently open to getting their first-ever plastic surgery. But if one looks back to 2014, a similar study revealed that only about 1 in 5 people were open to plastic surgery, while 49% were dead-set against the idea.

So if you're seriously considering plastic surgery, you're far from alone. In fact, you might want to book your procedure as soon as possible.