Plastic surgery sees increased demand during pandemic

Jan. 25, 2020

All that time at home – and potentially seeing themselves on camera during video meetings – has led to a pronounced increase in plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures nationwide that seems to be reflected in Sioux Falls.

“When we were supposed to be shutting down in April, preparing for the worst, we had more calls than I would have ever expected from people wanting to get surgery done knowing they would be laid up or at home anyway, and that’s just continued,” said Dr. Tony Breit, who has spent the past 15 years at Plastic Surgery Associates of South Dakota.

“People are doing more at home and finding themselves with more time on their hands. I think there are a lot of people who would do surgery but don’t have time.”

By late fall, he already had several more months of work booked.

And there’s likely more on the way.

Research from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons found patients continued to stay in touch about procedures through virtual health care when office visits weren’t possible.

Injectables were the most asked-for treatments, followed by more invasive procedures:

  1. Botulinum toxin type A – 65 percent.
  2. Breast augmentation – 44 percent.
  3. Soft-tissue fillers – 37 percent.
  4. Liposuction – 30 percent.
  5. Abdominoplasty – 24 percent.

While the society projects 2020 will end up down overall in cosmetic surgical procedures because of shutdowns nationwide throughout the year, the expectation is there will be strong demand as practices reopen.

The overall number of procedures in 2018 and 2019 was steady, with the most popular being breast augmentation, liposuction and eyelid surgery.

2019 marked the highest year on record for botulinum toxin type A injections with more than 7.69 million injections. There were slight increases in other minimally invasive cosmetic procedures. The society forecasted that “facial rejuvenation procedures are not showing signs of slowing down.”

At Plastic Surgery Associates, “we do more cosmetic now than when I started,” Breit said.

Before December, the operating room already was booked into March.

“This is nuts,” he said. “We have smaller spots for things like breast augmentation, but for big cases we’re way far away.”

Emergencies can still be done in hospitals, he added.

“It seems like everything in general is up – upper eyelid procedures, face-lifts, liposuctions, it’s all the same. Generally going into January, February, March, people do more body contouring to get ready for the summer.”

At The Body Garage, there was a similar influx of people once elective surgeries returned in late spring and summer, Dr. Richard Howard said.

“What opened up right away were the injectables and skin care – Botox, fillers – overall medical-grade skin care, and most of those people were our existing clients, but they came flocking back in,” he said. “Now across the board, there is a surge. We’re seeing a definite uptick.”

The notion that people are seeing more of their own face and subsequently wanting to improve it makes sense, both doctors said.

“The skin care area is very busy right now,” Howard said. “When people look in the mirror, they never see this stuff. Then when they see a picture of themselves, for some reason it registers differently in their mind. People will see a picture or video and think they need to lose weight or their eyelids look terrible. That is definitely a phenomenon, so it makes sense people are seeing themselves on web meetings and monitors, and would think about that.”

Breit agreed.

“It makes sense. People still do a lot of selfie stuff and don’t like their chins, but there are so many opportunities to look at ourselves virtually that the repeating theme is there. People see the under-eyelid bags or neck stuff and that prompts them to do something about it,” he said.

There have been so many consults that his practice is looking at opening more days.

“I feel real lucky where we’re at,” he said, adding the schedule is tight, but “we can do small hour, hour-and-a-half procedures. We’re out quite away, but we can put you on a list if someone drops off.”

He told as much to one client, whose response just might capture the demand.

“She said, ‘I can be here in two hours. I’m working from home and can shut the doors and come running.’ ”

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Plastic surgery sees increased demand during pandemic

All that time at home – and potentially seeing themselves on camera during video meetings – has led to a pronounced increase in plastic surgery and other cosmetic procedures nationwide that seems to be reflected in Sioux Falls.

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