Top 2020 Cosmetic Surgery Procedures Focus on Face

'Zoom Boom' Causes Upsurge in Demand

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, more people are working at home and spending much of their work time on Zoom and other video conferencing calls. Constantly seeing their own faces and those of their colleagues on the screen has led to a "Zoom Boom" in demand for cosmetic surgery for the face. In fact, facial procedures accounted for the top three cosmetic surgical procedures in 2020, according to the annual procedure survey from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Top Cosmetic Surgical Procedures in 2020

While the ASPS saw an overall 15% decrease in the total number of cosmetic procedures performed in 2020, the dip is largely on par with the amount of time practices were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Society's board-certified plastic surgeons reported that they stopped performing elective surgical procedures for an average of just over 8 weeks in 2020, or 15% of the year, due to the coronavirus.

The Top 5 cosmetic surgical procedures performed in 2020 were:

• Nose reshaping or rhinoplasty (352,555 procedures)
• Eyelid surgery or blepharoplasty (352,112)
• Facelift (234,374)
• Liposuction (211,067)
• Breast augmentation (193,073)

Top Cosmetic Minimally Invasive Procedures in 2020

Injectables continued to be the most sought-after treatments in 2020. Among the 13.3 million cosmetic minimally invasive procedure performed in 2020, the top 5 were:

• Botulinum toxin type A (4.4 million procedures)
• Soft tissue fillers (3.4 million)
• Laser skin resurfacing (997,245)
• Chemical peel (931,473)
• Intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment (827,409)

Top Reconstructive Procedures in 2020

Nearly 7 million reconstructive procedures were performed in 2020, up 3% overall compared to 2019. Tumor removal is by far the most common reconstructive plastic surgery procedure.

The Top 5 reconstructive procedures performed in 2020 were:

• Tumor removal (5.2 million procedures)
• Laceration repair (386,710)
• Scar revision (263,643)
• Maxillofacial surgery (256,085)
• Hand surgery (206,928)

Although not within the top five reconstructive procedures, breast reconstruction (137,808 procedures) saw a 29% jump over the previous year, a greater increase than any of the top five reconstructive procedures.

"A major concern at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was continuing care for reconstructive patients," said ASPS president Joseph E. Losee, MD, FACS, FAAP. "Despite the year's challenges, patients and care teams were not only able to move forward with procedure plans when deemed safe to do so, but, in terms of breast reconstruction, more women than ever are benefiting from today's technologies and treatments."