Image via Wikipedia
Elective cosmetic surgery used to be associated only with celebrities but elective procedures have started to enter the mainstream beauty regimen. Both decreasing costs and expanding social acceptance have helped to put elective cosmetic surgery into the hands of 3.5 million people each year.
For decades the average life expectancy has risen and, with it, the standard of living for people who have passed middle age. As many covers of popular women’s magazines will tell you, 50 is the new 40 and women, in particular, are seizing the chance to look as young and fit as they feel.
About one-third of patients who choose to use the miracle of modern medicine to enhance their looks are between the ages of 35 and 50, showing that people consider plastic surgery as their own bodies begin to change. Men who choose to undergo elective cosmetic surgery procedures is one of the fastest growing demographics although the number of minority women who choose to undergo elective surgery is also rising.
About 700,000 of the 3.5 people who have cosmetic surgery each year are male and that number is expected to increase as growing popularity and decreasing costs make elective surgery for men a more common option. Men most commonly choose to regain a part of their youth with hair transplants to other procedures that directly relate to the common problem of make pattern baldness. However, chemical peels, liposuction and vein treatments are also high on the list of most common surgeries for men, which may show that men are expanding upon the traditional ideas of what makes a man look young and fit.