Topic: Plastic-surgery demand perks up amid COVID-19 pandemic’s persistence

Lip fillers, face-lifts and skin resurfacing.

Nonstop video calls during the COVID-19 pandemic on platforms like Zoom and more time spent at home have triggered a surge in interest in cosmetic surgery, as people seek ways of looking younger and fresher on screens.

Elite Aesthetics, a MedSpa in Needham, Mass., said that it has seen a 20% increase in appointments booked from last year.

“We’ve found that patients are seeking out treatments, such as injectables, now more than ever. With offices going virtual and Zoom meetings becoming part of regular routines, people are seeing much more of their own reflection every day,” Dr. Joelle Lieman, founder of Elite Aesthetics, told MarketWatch.

“Before the pandemic, it was irregular to look at your reflection as often as we are now,” Lieman added.

A recent study published in the journal Facial Plastic Surgery & Aesthetic Medicine noted a surge in patients citing their appearance on Zoom as a reason to seek care. Noses and wrinkles seem to be the most common complaints generated by this phenomenon, which the authors of the research dubbed “Zoom Dysmorphia.”

They also noted an increase in Google search trends during the pandemic for the terms acne and hair loss. The authors attributed this trend to the association of acne and hair loss with anxiety and depression, common psychological conditions during quarantine.

“We suspect the trend may also arise from people constantly seeing themselves on video and becoming more aware of their appearance,” wrote Dr. Arianne Shadi Kourosh of Massachusetts General Hospital, one of the authors of the article.

The rise in cosmetic surgery is taking place on both sides of the Atlantic, as the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons said doctors had seen a “massive upswing” — more than 100% — in demand for virtual consultations during lockdown.

Topic Discussed: Plastic-surgery demand perks up amid COVID-19 pandemic’s persistence

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