Plastic Surgery Snipped By Recession

Here’s an interesting statistic: Americans received 18 percent fewer plastic-surgery procedures in 2009. The recession is likely to blame for people foregoing the surgical tweaking that has become common in the U.S. The financial crisis fallout hit many luxury industries hard, and cosmetic surgery is no exception: People got just 1.9 million procedures last year, compared to 2.1 million in 2005. Some argue that American culture is changing, pulling back from the plastic boom, marked by nose job-centric TV shows like Nip/Tuck, Extreme Makeover, and The Swan. "When it comes to plastic surgery, people are now using more common sense. They don't want radical procedures," a Miami Beach plastic surgeon said. Those who do want breast implants, for example, want smaller silicone bags, another doctor says. Non-surgical procedures, like Botox, are still rising, however. On the other hand, many expect the numbers to bounce back: Insecurity is recession-proof.