Cosmetic Surgery has Boomed during Lockdown as Employees look to 'Polish' their Appearance
Video calling during the pandemic has triggered a huge surge in enquiries and requests for cosmetic surgery, according to reports by health experts.
As the coronavirus pandemic has forced people to lock themselves away, communication has moved mostly online. In response, businesses have resorted to holding meetings and conferences on apps such as Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams.
After looking at themselves on screens, more people are opting for face and neck lifts, cosmetic dentistry and hair restoration to maintain a professional look. This is according to a December report from LaingBuisson, a healthcare business intelligence site that advises the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Liz Heath, author of the LaingBuisson report, said: "The use of video calling via Skype, FaceTime, Zoom and Microsoft Teams has apparently triggered significant interest and demand for those wishing to 'polish' their appearance."
After closing during lockdown, plastic surgeons were allowed to reopen their surgeries on May 1 in California, and June 8 in New York.
Dr. Lynn Jeffers is former president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), the largest plastic surgery specialty organization in the world. She told Business Insider that members of the group have seen a significant rise in patient consultations.
There has been a 64% increase in telemedicine consults in America, according to Dr. Jeffers. She said: "Video calling may have induced some people to notice and seek consultation for what they are now noticing on the screen."
Dr. Jeffers said: "people of all ages, gender, and demographics continue to be interested in cosmetic plastic surgery" in the US.
After collecting data from a consumer survey, ASPS found that 49% of Americans who had not previously had plastic surgery would consider having either cosmetic or reconstructive plastic surgery, she added.
Now that working remotely has become the norm, people are more inclined to have surgery and recover from it in the privacy of their own homes, instead of taking time off work, said Dr. Jeffers.
Dr. Jeffers said some people had planned to have cosmetic surgery before the pandemic struck. So, they "took advantage of the downtime to have their procedures done when they could recover and work from home."
If the video-calling trend continues post-pandemic, however, it seems likely that business will also continue to boom for cosmetics surgeons.
