COVID-19 may have left a damageing mark on certain businesses over the last few months, but other industries, like plastic surgery, have seen a surprising (or not?) rise in demand. In the early days of the virus's spread across the US, many plastic surgery clinics closed temporarily in lieu of virtual consultations. As many states began to lift their shelter-in-place orders by the start of the summer, some of these same clinics have re-opened their doors — with enhanced safety protocols, of course — and were met with a surge in business.
Simon Ourian [1], a cosmetic dermatologist at Epione [2] in Beverly Hills, recently claimed that his clinic has seen an increase in requests for facial contouring, butt enhancements, botox, body contouring, and laser treatments. Considering the fact that we'll now be spending much of our time outdoors with our faces mostly covered for the foreseeable future, it'd be easy to think that changing our physical appearance wouldn't be a priority — but that's until you remember that when you're at home social distancing, you're left with a lot more time to look at yourself and pore over all your perceived imperfections.
Scott Miller, plastic surgeon and director of California's Miller Cosmetic Surgery Centre [3], said this fact has only made people want to go under the knife more.
"We are doing more lower face and neck lifts than ever before."
"We have seen an increase in consultations and surgeries across the board," Miller told POPSUGAR. "In particular, people seem to be noticing their necks and jowls. In many cases, they bring in screenshots from their Zoom calls. Given the mask mandates, there seems to be no better time to hide the neck and lower face during the healing process. That's probably why we are doing more lower face and neck lifts than ever before."
Given the results of a recent survey conducted by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons [4] — which found that 49 percent of Americans who've never had plastic surgery now say that they're open to going under the knife in the future — none of this information should come as a surprise.
Essentially, it's never been a better time to get that procedure you've been thinking about, though your biggest obstacle might be snagging an appointment time.