I came across an article at KATV.com, an Arkansas media affiliate, which discussed the recent increase in breast augmentation procedures among teenages across the US.  Their site states “The number of teen breast implant surgeries nationwide has tripled in the past decade and doctors say the trend is evident right here in Arkansas.  It may seem like some of your teen’s favorite actresses and musicians. Even idols are suddenly bigger than ever before.”

Breast implants are common place in today’s landscape.  They are accepted by society and the costs have reached an attainable level for almost all consumers.

According to the ASPS there were 1.1 million cosmetic procedures performed on men in the year 2006.  This is a 7% decline from the previous year 2005 and accounted for 9% of all cosmetic surgeries performed during 2006.

Of the procedures performed on men the top 5 surgeries were nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, liposuction, hair transplantation, and breast reduction.  Of these procedures there were drastic shifts between the year 2000 and 2006.  The number of liposuctions performed on men dropped by 32% and the number of facelifts performed dropped by 39%.  Male breast reductions performed during this time shifted in the opposite direction increasing by 22%.

More than 325,000 tummy tuck, breast augmentation and lifts were performed on women between the ages of 20-39 in 2006, according to stats released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).  This 11% increase in procedures over 2005 in “Mommy Makeover” procedures is roughly 5 times more than the increase in overall cosmetic surgeries during the same time span.

A cosmetic procedure called a “Mommy Makeover” includes breast augmentation, tummy tuck and breast lift.  These procedures rank first, fourth and fifth respectively among all cosmetic surgeries performed on women between the ages of 20 and 39 in 2006.

According to CNN and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, “Nearly 11 million cosmetic plastic surgery operations were performed in the United States in 2006, up by 7 percent from 2005, the group said.

The most popular cosmetic choice was breast augmentation, with 329,000 reported in 2006. This is the first time “breast jobs” have passed nose reshaping surgery, performed on 307,000 people in 2006.

Liposuction followed in a close third place, with 302,000 procedures.”

Surprising?  Not at all.  It has become common for a woman to have breast implants or a lift procedure.  I only expect this number to increase over the next few years as the industry evolves, procedures are improved, and costs are reduced.