Here Are The Most Popular Plastic Surgery Trends For 2022

It’s undeniable that the pandemic has made an impact across every area of the beauty world. We embraced the no-makeup lifestyle, learnt to cover our regrowth from home and hunted for the best supermarket shampoos when the only store open was Woolies. And even the plastic surgery industry was no exception, experiencing a surge in popularity during the pandemic.

According to The Aesthetic Society, Americans spent over $9 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2020; A number rumoured to have been surpassed the following year in 2021. Several factors were cited as being responsible for the surge, including “the boom in video calls and more opportunity for discreet downtime.”

The question is, as we move into a seemingly less restricted 2022, can we expect this popularity surge to continue? 

Here’s what to expect from plastic surgery trends in 2022…

The dips and surges will reflect those of the lockdowns…

We swore we were done being controlled by the pandemic, however, plastic surgery trends are directly related to the waves of COVID-19. Speaking to Allure, plastic surgeon Troy Pittman said: “Whenever there was a spike in COVID and things looked like they were shutting down, we saw more patients coming in for procedures.” 

Why? A spike in case numbers means more people are locking down, working from home and saving money on expenses that might have gone towards dining out or a holiday. Nothing prompts an elective surgery quite like more time at home and a bit of extra money.

There’s a demand for ear pinning….

Typically a procedure that’s popular amongst pre-teens, ear pinning (otherwise known as “ostoplasties”) is becoming an increasingly requested procedure from adults. According to Dr. Pitt, the introduction of masks has played into people’s insecurities about their ears. “I do think that there are enough people with ill-fitting masks that have really pulled their ears out and away from their head,” he said, spoken like a true plastic surgeon.

It’s no longer all about the face…

Over the past few years, injectables rose in popularity and body treatments like breast augmentations took a backseat. The proportion of face and body procedures is expected to even out in 2022, with liposuction and tummy tucks returning to popularity now that people are leaving their homes and living their lives as they used to.

An increase in procedures performed on men…

According to Take a Tumble, 90 per cent of cosmetic surgeries in Australia are performed on women. However, more and more men have shown an increasing level of interest recently, particularly in gynecomastia correction, AKA reduction of breast tissue.

“There’s a desire for men who are just a little bit older to look younger because those in their 40s and 50s are competing with younger men,” plastic surgeon Dr. Sieber told Allure. Dr. Sieber’s practice is located in the Silicon Valley tech hub, where he experiences these pressures first-hand. “In tech, the fear is that you’ll ‘age out’ and so you have to keep up with the kids who come to work in hoodies.”

While some men are defying age in the workplace and trying to compete with the younger generation, others are turning to cosmetic procedures in order to gain a different kind of advantage. Dr Pittman who works out of Washington D.C revealed: “Everyone’s a lawyer in D.C and I have so many male patients who get Botox because they want to have a little bit more of a poker face in court.” Fascinating, right?

Economic conditions will play a role…

This is more of a looming question mark than a trend prediction. As plastic surgery is a nice-to-have, it often thrives in a strong economy where people have more access to a disposable income. So what does this mean for 2022? Well, it’s impossible to know and the experts aren’t ready to make a call. According to Dr. Pitman, “plastic surgery [is] one of those kind of cost-sensitive lifestyle choices. [Therefore] 2022 is going to be unpredictable because COVID is unpredictable.”

Do you have any plastic surgery trend predictions of your own? If so, what are they?