Plastic surgery statistics are commonly being made into news stories there days. Just as I comment on the relevance of the Aesthetic societies’ statistics, another story comes out about Chinplants using the ASPS societies’ statistics. The media can be funny creating new terms for things that have been around for ages. Chin implants are such an item:
That’s right, chins are the new breasts. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, surgical procedures that enhance the chin increased 71 percent between 2010 and 2011, outpacing breast augmentation, liposuction and Botox combined.
Source: forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2012/04/16/move-over-
breasts-chinplants-are-whats-hot/
Remember we discussed the issue of how many respondents are being used to create these statistics. It is not as many as you might think. The statistics are generated by extrapolating the data.
Say the statistics are correct: Does that mean everyone is getting a Chinplant? Nope.
Chin implant procedures are up 71%. They still constitute (even by these extrapolated numbers) a very small portion of all cosmetic procedures at 20,680 for 2011. The total number of cosmetic surgical procedures in this study was 1.6 million and liposuction came in at just under 205,000. Even at the higher figure that is about 1% of all cosmetic surgery operations. Big deal.
Now that we have the statistics from the Aesthetic society and the American Society to compare we find some variability that puts them both into question. While both came in at around 1.6 million total cosmetic surgical procedures, Chinplants are 20,000 according the American society and 12,000 according to the Aesthetic society. That’s a chin scratcher…why the variability?
OK, so why are there (percentage wise at least) more Chinplants?
Why? Well there is the potential social media connection. There is also cost. Chin implant surgery is not terribly expensive relative to other facial procedures. I’d put my bet there.
Best Regards,
John Di Saia MD
Sources: ASPS Statistics: http://www.plasticsurgery.org/Documents/news-resources/statistics/2011-statistics/2011_Stats_Full_Report.pdf
ASAPS Statistics: http://www.surgery.org/media/statistics
