Statistics Reveal Surprising Demand For Belly Button Cosmetic Surgery
In February 2006 the UK bank Abbey reported that it had seen a 50% increase in the number of people taking out a personal loan to pay for cosmetic surgery during the first two weeks of January, (traditionally a time when most of us sort out our finances), compared with the same period for 2005. In fact, Paula Ickinger, Abbey's head of personal loans marketing, said: 'Only two or three years ago, the number of people borrowing for cosmetic surgery would have been very few and far between, but now it's become a more regular occurrence.’
Then in July this year, marketing research company, Mintel reported that Britons were likely to spend £659 million on cosmetic procedures in 2007, (amazingly almost £50 million more than we spend on tea). Mintel concluded that this figure would nearly double to almost £1 billion by 2009, following research it carried out in conjunction with the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) and the Harley Medical Group. They noted that almost 23% of British woman would consider plastic surgery, compared with just 9% of men, but that currently just 2% of Britons have actually had cosmetic surgery, with cost being the biggest restriction.
Following the findings from Mintel, Which? Magazine commissioned an online survey in July asking people whether they would have cosmetic surgery if it were free, thus dispensing with the financial burden. Results published in its August issue showed that of 1,008 adults surveyed 53% said that yes they would.
So what does all this mean?
Well, Mintel say that the rise is due to cosmetic surgery becoming more socially acceptable, and the reduction in recovery times required for many procedures due to technological innovations; as well as the influence of television and celebrities in increasing its popularity.
But is our appetite for cosmetic surgery really sky rocketing? We took the unusual step of analysing our website traffic (www.consultingroom.com) after only 6 months of the year to try and find out more …
Treatment FAQs
Whether you’re purchasing a new car or a new nose, it’s imperative that you do your research first. At the Consulting Room™, our main goal is to educate and encourage those considering a cosmetic procedure to research all the treatment options currently available to them; hence we have devised our unbiased Treatment FAQs (www.consultingroom.com/Treatment_FAQs)pages which encompass cosmetic surgery procedures, non-surgical treatments, cosmetic dentistry and hair loss procedures.
It seems that our message is certainly proving successful with individual Treatment FAQ pages being accessed almost 150,000 times in the 181 days of the year up to the end of June 2006. The majority of which fell under the non-surgical banner (66,584), followed by cosmetic surgery (63,984), cosmetic dentistry (8,903) and hair loss (6,833).
More interesting than the number of times people are reading these sections is to discover which treatments they are actually interested in reading about. Common stereotypes about cosmetic surgery tell us that this should be dominated by breast implants, face lifts, tummy tucks and nose jobs, but no; the top two surgical Treatment FAQs read in the first 6 months of 2006 were on the topics of fat transfer and umbilicoplasty (navel/belly button surgery).
With non-surgical Treatment FAQs, the results were a bit more predictable with both Laser/IPL skin rejuvenation and hair removal dominating the research, followed by dermal fillers and botulinum toxins.
In addition to the broad details found within our Treatment FAQs, many are also linked to specific Product FAQ information for the various devices and product brands available under each treatment umbrella. Again, consumer research in these areas is high with almost 15,000 individual product FAQ pages read between January and June. In this case though there’s no prizes for guessing that the most popularly researched products were Botox® and Restylane®, the leading botulinum toxin and dermal filler brands; although surprise high interest products included Radiesse™ and Teosyal, two new dermal fillers heavily promoted in 2006.
Summary
With year on year UK statistics from BAAPS showing a 34.6% increase for cosmetic surgery procedures performed in 2005 compared with 2004, and the findings of such reports as those carried out by Mintel and ourselves, we can safely conclude that the trend for seeking cosmetic enhancement, whether surgical or non-surgical is most certainly on the upin Britain as well as globally.
However, with such openness and availability it is very easy to get complacent and forget that surgery or even non-surgical procedures are not something to be taken likely and do all carry risks of some kind. We cannot emphasise enough how important it is for all those considering cosmetic enhancements of one kind or another to research what’s involved, using our Which Treatment? and Treatment FAQs sections, as well as remembering to ask questions (see our Useful Tips section - www.consultingroom.com/Useful_Tips) before you embark upon any treatments, and finally be sure to check the credentials of any potential practitioner before agreeing to start treatment (read our Legislation section - www.consultingroom.com/Legislation for more information).
As with most things in life, the best advice available is “Caveat Emptor”- Buyer Beware.
For more information on the UK's largest aesthetic information website, providing clear and unbiased information on a wide range of specialist cosmetic treatments, and including a directory of UK based clinics; please visit www.consultingroom.com
