Tweaks not tucks: plastic surgery numbers are on the slump

Breast augmentation is down by a quarter while breast reduction is up, and for the first time in years, cosmetic surgery is on the decline

Last year, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (BAAPS) reported that cosmetic procedures were up by 16.5 per cent - numbers of nose jobs, liposuction, tummy tucks and face lifts had reached an eye-watering 50,122 in the UK. This year however, the stats are a little more subtle, and they've also been deflated.

According to BAAPS, the number of cosmetic operations has decreased by nine per cent in the last 12 months, with breast augmentations for example, still the most popular procedure (there were 8,609 last year), plummeting by 25 per cent. Tummy tucks and nose jobs also decreased by 20 per cent reports, the BAAPS.

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Interestingly too, for the first time in five years, the order of popularity of procedures has shifted. While conspicuous cosmetic work is down, what BAAPS describes as, "tweaked, not tucked" procedures - the more subtle work if you will - including eyelid surgery, face lifts and fat transfer ops whose numbers all went unchanged, while breast reductions were up by three per cent. Liposuction also saw a 10 per cent rise, thanks only to the backlash of largely ineffective non-surgical fat removal procedures however. "Aesthetic preferences naturally evolve over time - 2014 saw men sporting beards and women bushy eyebrows, as well as a number of 'enhanced' celebrities downgrading their implant sizes. In cosmetic surgery the natural, less-is-more look is definitely on the rise as patients opt to be 'tweaked' rather than 'tucked'," says Rajiv Grover, consultant plastic surgeon and former President of BAAPS

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Business isn't booming in the boy's category anymore either. Unlike last year when numbers were up by 16 per cent, this year male cosmetic surgery is down by 15 per cent, with moob jobs specifically down by 10 per cent, and nose jobs (last year's most popular procedure for a man) down by a whopping 30 per cent. For 2014, the gentle eyelift was a man's favourite procedure. "With demand for the most subtle anti-ageing procedures such as eyelid surgery and facelifts holding steady, it's clear that the public of 2014 were after a refreshed or youthful appearance rather than more conspicuous alterations," explains Michael Cadier, consultant plastic surgeon and BAAPS President.

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These stats are not to be sniffed at, new nose or otherwise. Plastic surgeons are welcoming what they deem as a new educated public into theatre, as Grover explains, "it might seem counterintuitive that as plastic surgeons we could possibly welcome such a change, but we are pleased that the public are now so much more thoughtful, cautions and educated in their approach to cosmetic surgery."

"Patients want subtle and understated - most refreshingly, they are doing their research, taking their time and coming to us with realistic expectations," says Cadier, "At the BAAPS we consider this to be a triumph."

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Tweaks not tucks: plastic surgery numbers are on the slump