Demand for Botox, fillers drives US cosmetic surgery growth

Botox, fillers and chemical peels were among the most popular cosmetic treatments in the United States and fueled growth in the plastic surgery industry for the third consecutive year, according to statistics released on Tuesday.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons said 14.6 million procedures were done in 2012, an increase of 5 percent from 2011.

"For the third consecutive year, the overall growth in cosmetic surgery continues to be driven by a significant rise in minimally invasive procedures, while surgical procedures remain relatively stable," Gregory Evans, the president of the society, said in a statement.

Botox treatments rose 8 percent last year to 6.1 million procedures, along with the skin-smoothing treatment microdermabrasion. Demand for fillers to smooth out wrinkles jumped 5 percent, while laser hair removal treatments rose 4 percent and chemical peels jumped 2 percent.

Overall, minimally invasive treatments accounted for 13 million procedures in 2012, while surgery such as breast enlargements and facelifts dropped 2 percent to 1.6 million.

"Female cosmetic breast surgeries such as breast augmentation, as well as body contouring procedures like tummy tucks, were some of the most popular procedures performed in 2012, although they saw declines," Evans explained.

Although breast enlargement surgery dropped 7 percent from the previous year, it was still the most popular surgical cosmetic treatment with 286,000 procedures, followed by nose reshaping, liposuction, eyelid surgery and facelifts.

Reconstructive plastic surgery, which improves function or abnormal appearance, was also up slightly last year with tumor removal the top surgery.

The American Society of Plastic Surgeons represents more than 7,000 surgeons in the United States.