All you need to know about Cosmetic Surgery in the UK

The demand for cosmetic surgery has grown in the US, the UK and the rest of the world over the last few years. And this trend has been fuelled mostly by the stars and the celebrities of the world.

The cosmetic surgery market in the UK has grown at a rapid pace in the past 5 years (2003 to 2007) and includes both non-surgical and surgical procedures.

At the end of 2007, it was worth £493m and showed an annual growth rate of 69% since 2003. According to British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), the actual number of consumers for cosmetic surgery is quite small as compared to the US market.

In fact, the number of people undergoing cosmetic surgery is less than 0.05% of the total population. One of the reasons these procedures have not been widely accepted in the UK is because they are expensive and not easily affordable for every consumer.

But in the last few years, due to rising disposable incomes especially among young men and women, cosmetic surgery procedures like liposuction and breast augmentation have seen rapid growth.

One of the major drivers of this market is the technological advancement of less-invasive techniques especially in the field of facial surgery. This has to a great degree encouraged older people who are opting for eyelid surgery and face lifts by the numbers.

Another important aspect that has led to the growth of the cosmetic surgery market in the UK is the expansion and availability of various non-surgical procedures thanks to state-of-the-art technology.

One of the recent examples is the dermal filler treatments whose effectiveness and non-surgical procedure is encouraging more women to try different types of facial treatments. Apart from this there have also been several advancements and achievements in laser technology, which enhances non-surgical procedures.

Here are some facts and statistics given out by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) for 2007:

• In 2007, BAAPS members carried out almost 32,453 surgical procedures, which is a jump of 12.2% since 2006 which saw 28,921 surgical procedures
• Women topped the cosmetic surgery procedures list with 91% while men lagged behind with only 17.5% opting for cosmetic surgery procedures.
• 29,572 procedures were carried out on women in 2007 vis-à-vis 26,469 in 2006.
• Most popular cosmetic surgery procedure was facelift and showed a rise of 36% in 2007 as against 2006. In total 4,468 procedures were for facelift.