What’s Causing the Surge in Lip Procedures?

Lip implant procedures have increased by 48 percent since the turn of the century.

According to the latest annual statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), these procedures — which do not include lip injections — increased among both women and men last year. There were 27,449 lip implants in 2015.

In a news release issued Monday, Dr. David H. Song, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, says:

“We live in the age of the selfie, and because we see images of ourselves almost constantly on social media, we’re much more aware of how our lips look.”

Only one other cosmetic surgical procedure involving the face has increased more than lip implants since 2000: Last year, 87,216 dermabrasion procedures were performed, representing a 107 percent increase since 2000.

ASPS describes dermabrasion, also known as dermaplaning, as a procedure that can “help to ‘refinish’ the skin’s top layers through a method of controlled surgical scraping.” It is most often used to improve the appearance of scarred skin or to smooth out wrinkles.

Among all cosmetic surgical procedures, upper arm lifts have increased the most since the turn of the century. Last year, 17,099 upper arm lifts were conducted, representing a 4,959 percent increase since 2000, when only 338 upper arm lifts were conducted.

Looking at the numbers of cosmetic surgical procedures conducted in 2015, the most popular ones of the year were:

1. Breast augmentation: 279,143 procedures (down 2 percent from 2014)
2. Rhinoplasty: 222,051 (up 5 percent)
3. Liposuction: 217,979 (no change)
4. Eyelid surgery: 203,934 (down 1 percent)
5. Tummy tuck: 127,967 (up 9 percent)

Among cosmetic minimally invasive procedures conducted last year, the most popular ones of 2015 were:

1. Botulinum toxin Type A: 6.8 million (up 1 percent from 2014)
2. Soft tissue fillers: 2.4 million (up 6 percent)
3. Chemical peel: 1.3 million (up 5 percent)
4. Laser hair removal: 1.1 million (no change)
5. Microdermabrasion: 800,340 (down 9 percent)

What’s your take on the rising number of cosmetic procedures? Let us know what you think by commenting below or over on our Facebook page.