New York, NY (February 18, 2004) — The number of surgical and nonsurgical
cosmetic procedures in the United States increased by 20 percent in 2003 to
a total of nearly 8.3 million, according to statistics released today by the
American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). The number of surgical
procedures increased 12 percent and the number of nonsurgical procedures increased
22 percent from 2002. ASAPS, a national not-for-profit organization for education
and research in cosmetic plastic surgery, annually conducts the nation's most
authoritative survey of U.S. physicians performing cosmetic procedures.

"A strengthening economy means that people are more willing to invest
in the things that improve their quality of life," says ASAPS President
Robert Bernard, MD, of White Plains, NY. "Feeling good about the way
they look is high on the list of priorities for many Americans.”

Trends

Top Surgical Procedures

The five most popular surgical cosmetic procedures in 2003 were:
liposuction (384,626); breast augmentation (280,401); eyelid surgery (267,627);
rhinoplasty (172,420); and female breast reduction (147,173). Breast reduction
may be covered by insurance, depending on terms of the policy and individual
patient factors.

There were significant percentage increases from 2002 in several body contouring
procedures often used to treat patients with major weight loss: abdominoplasty
(increased by 42 percent to 117,693 procedures); lower body lift (increased
by 127 percent to 10,964 procedures); thigh lift (increased by 109 percent
to 8,806 procedures); and upper arm lift (increased by 68 percent to 10,595
procedures). There were also large percentage increases for buttock lift (increased
by 70 percent to 3,565 procedures) and buttock augmentation (increased by 533
percent to 3,885 procedures). Large percentage changes are common in cases
where the total number of procedures is small.

Top Nonsurgical Procedures

Botox injections continued to rank first among all cosmetic procedures
(surgical and nonsurgical combined), increasing 37 percent from 2002. The top
five nonsurgical cosmetic procedures were: Botox injection (2,272,080);
laser hair removal (923,200); microdermabrasion (858,312); chemical peel (722,248);
and collagen injection (620,476). Human-derived collagen products (CosmoDerm,
CosmoPlast) were used in 29 percent of collagen injection procedures. There
were 116,211 procedures using hyaluronic acid (Hylaform, Restylane) and 31,913
procedures using calcium hydroxylapatite (Radiance).

Gender Distribution

Women had 87 percent of cosmetic procedures. The number of procedures performed
on women was nearly 7.2 million, an increase of 16 percent from 2002. The top
five surgical cosmetic procedures for women in 2003 were: liposuction (322,975 and 84 percent
of liposuction total); breast augmentation (280,401); eyelid surgery (216,829
and 81 percent of total); breast reduction (147,173); and rhinoplasty (119,047
and 69 percent of total). The number of surgical procedures for women increased
11 percent overall from 2002.

The top five nonsurgical cosmetic procedures for women were:
Botox injection (1,963,012 and 86 percent of Botox total); microdermabrasion
(774,261 and 90 percent of total); laser hair removal (695,210 and 75 percent
of total); chemical peel (640,081 and 89 percent of total); and collagen injection
(568,797 and 92 percent of total). The number of nonsurgical procedures for
women increased 17 percent overall from 2002.

Men had 13 percent of cosmetic procedures, up 1 percent from 2002. The number
of procedures performed on men was nearly 1.1 million, an increase of 31 percent
from 2002. The top five surgical cosmetic procedures for men in
2003 were: liposuction (61,646 and 16 percent of liposuction total); rhinoplasty
(53,376 and 31 percent of total); eyelid surgery (50,798 and 19 percent of
total); breast reduction to treat enlarged male breasts (22,049); and hair
transplantation (14,891 and 90 percent of total). Surgical procedures for men
increased 22 percent overall from 2002.

The top five nonsurgical cosmetic procedures for men were:
Botox injection (309,063 and 14 percent of Botox total); laser hair removal
(227,990 and 25 percent of total); microdermabrasion (84,049 and 10 percent
of total); chemical peel (82,174 and 11 percent of total); and collagen injection
(51,674 and 8 percent of total). Nonsurgical procedures for men increased 34
percent overall from 2002.

Age Distribution

Americans age 35-50 had 3.7 million surgical and nonsurgical
cosmetic procedures, representing 45 percent of all procedures performed in
2003. Liposuction was the most popular surgical procedure (179,650 and 47 percent
of liposuction total). Botox injection was the number one nonsurgical procedure
(1,238,891 and 55 percent of Botox total).

The 19-34 age group had nearly 2 million cosmetic procedures,
and 24 percent of all procedures. The most popular surgical procedure in this
age group was breast augmentation (150,208 and 54 percent of the breast augmentation
total). Laser hair removal was the most popular nonsurgical procedure (332,166
and 36 percent of laser hair removal total).

The 51-64 age group had 1.9 million cosmetic procedures,
and 23 percent of all procedures. The number one surgical procedure was eyelid
surgery (104,835 and 39 percent of the eyelid surgery total). The most popular
nonsurgical procedure was Botox injection (601,417 and 27 percent of Botox
total).

The 65-and-over age group had 5 percent of all cosmetic
procedures (388,601). The most popular surgical procedure was eyelid surgery
(33,990, and 13 percent of eyelid surgery total). The number one nonsurgical
procedure was Botox injection (104,820 and 5 percent of Botox total).

The 18-and-under age group had less than 3 percent of all
cosmetic procedures (223,594), down slightly from 2002. The most popular surgical
procedure was rhinoplasty (23,013 and 13 percent of rhinoplasty total). The
most popular nonsurgical procedure was chemical peel (51,997 and 7 percent
of chemical peel total).

Racial and Ethnic Distribution

Racial and ethnic minorities accounted for 20 percent of all cosmetic procedures
in 2003, an increase of 1 percent from 2002. Hispanics led minority racial
and ethnic groups in the number of procedures: Hispanics, 8%; African-Americans,
6% (an increase of 1 percent from 2002); Asians, 4%; and other non-Caucasians,
2%.

Facility and Fees

Fifty-two percent (52 percent) of cosmetic procedures in 2003 were performed
in office-based facilities, an increase of 7 percent from 2002. Other procedures
were divided about equally between hospitals (25 percent) and free-standing
surgicenters (23 percent). Americans spent just under $9.4 billion on
cosmetic procedures; this figure does not include fees for surgical
facilities, anesthesia, medical tests, prescriptions, surgical garments or
other miscellaneous expenses associated with surgery. $6.5 billion was
for surgical procedures, and $ 2.9 billion was
for nonsurgical procedures.

ASAPS Member Data

The ASAPS survey includes data from member surgeons as well as nonmember physicians
and surgeons in multiple specialties. ASAPS members are plastic surgeons certified
by the American Board of Plastic Surgery who specialize in cosmetic surgery
of the face and body. In 2003, ASAPS-member plastic surgeons, on average, performed
751 cosmetic procedures.

About the ASAPS Cosmetic Surgery National Data Bank

ASAPS, working with an independent research firm, compiled 7-year
data for procedures performed 1997-2003 by multiple specialists ,
including plastic surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery;
head and neck surgeons certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology;
and dermatologists certified by the American Board of Dermatology. More than
14,000 questionnaires were mailed nationwide to a random sampling of physicians
most likely to perform several or more of the 38 top cosmetic procedures.
Results of the survey were used to project national data on the number of
cosmetic procedures performed in 2003 by nearly 23,000 physicians. The survey
data has a standard error of +/- 3.92 percent at a 95 percent level of confidence.

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Complete survey data, including downloadable graphs, are available
in the Press Center of
the ASAPS web site http://www.surgery.org/press/statistics-2003.php

PLEASE CREDIT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR AESTHETIC PLASTIC SURGERY (ASAPS)
WHEN CITING STATISTICAL DATA.