Plastic Surgery Popularity Down in UK

Looks like the Brits are embracing natural beauty! Despite the fact that plastic surgery seems to be everywhere these days, its popularity in the UK has experienced a pretty dramatic decline. The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) reported 45,406 surgical procedures in 2014—a 9\\% drop from the 50,122 surgeries performed in 2013.

The surgeries that experienced the biggest popularity drop? Breast augmentation (which was down 23\\%) and nose jobs (down 24\\%).

According to Rajiv Grover, a consultant plastic surgeon and BAAPS spokesman, the 2012 Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) breast implant scandal might be the reason for the decline in breast augmentation. In 2012, thousands of women received substandard breast implants, made by PIP, a French firm.

As a result, Grover told the BBC, “Last year's figures [for 2013] were inflated by the 2012 PIP crisis and a large number of people needed to have implants replaced. So breast augmentation figures went up artificially because of the large number of replacements."

The economic landscape might be another reason for the ups and downs the plastic surgery industry has faced lately—prospective patients were likely waiting for the end of the recession to get plastic surgery.

"Cosmetic surgery is not a requirement, it is a desire, so during a number of years of austerity people will have put that on hold for a few years and save money,” says Grover. Though there was a boom in 2013 as people began to spend again, the market naturally slowed down immediately after.