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Minimally Invasive Treatments Dominate 2017 Statistics

The West County Plastic Surgeons of Jefferson County blog recently highlighted breast augmentation as the No. 1 cosmetic surgery in the country, but the most popular cosmetic treatment overall of 2017, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, is botulinum toxin Type A, such as BOTOX® Cosmetic. St. Louis women and men who choose the wrinkle-smoothing injectable make up a small percentage of the 7.23 million people total reportedly enjoying the treatment last year.

While the botulinum toxin Type A category includes any injectable cosmetic treatment that inhibits wrinkle-forming muscle contractions—such as Dysport® and Xeomin®—BOTOX® Cosmetic is the most popular of the bunch. The FDA has approved it for several cosmetic uses (horizontal forehead lines, frown lines, and crow’s feet), and experienced doctors frequently use it for “off-label” applications that have been established as safe and effective over years of common use.

Second in the ASPS survey results was soft tissue fillers at 2.69 million procedures. This category includes a large number of injectables that add volume to the skin to compensate for a loss of facial fat, hyaluronic acid, collagen, and more. A decrease in any and all of these crucial elements can lead to facial creases and hollows. Soft tissue fillers can soften lines and reduce the look of hollows, as well as plump up thin lips and even fill out recessed scars to make them less noticeable.

In third place was chemical peels at 1.37 million procedures. This treatment comes in a range of strengths and with a variety of effects, all working on the same premise: a solution is applied to the facial skin, which causes the outermost layer of dead skin to peel away for a rejuvenated look.

All of these top three treatments increased in popularity from 2016 to 2017, with botulinum toxin Type A growing two percent, soft tissue fillers growing three percent, and chemical peels growing one percent.

Rounding out the top five are laser hair removal (down two percent to 1.1 million treatments) and microdermabrasion (down four percent to 740,287 treatments).

Learn more about BOTOX®, dermal fillers like Juvederm®, and other treatments mentioned here by contacting West County Plastic Surgeons in St. Louis. Call (314) 996-8800 or send a message online.