According to a report done by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery or AAFRS, the second reason given for cosmetic surgery across the US has been social media. In fact, many surgeons (42% according to the report) said their patients wanted cosmetic surgery so they could look better in selfies, on Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms. There is also a rise of patients requesting certain parts of celebrities like Kim Kardashian's butt, Angelina Jolies lips and Beyonce's jaw line.
Does the impact of social media really lead to an increase in cosmetic plastic surgery? We can look at this chart from the team at myhealthchampion.com who graphed 27 different popular cosmetic procedures from 2011 to 2020. You can track the increase in facial surgeries across these years with Rhinoplasty (nose jobs), Blepharoplasty (eyelid lift) and Rhytidectomy (face lifts) taking the top three spots in 2020. Does this coincide with the rise in social media and the report from AAFRS? One could absolutely make that distinction.
