by Danielle Braff – Washington Post
Call it a Zoom boom. Or an opportune moment. Plastic surgeons across the globe are anecdotally reporting an unprecedented number of requests for procedures. “It is unknown if this is pent-up demand from the months of shutdown when patients were not able to get their procedures, or increased interest because of other potential factors,” said Adam Ross, spokesman for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, adding that the organization would not have estimates for the number of procedures done this year until spring 2021.
“There are people who thought they’d never have downtime, because they were going to the office every day,” said Steven Levine, a New York-based plastic surgeon. Now that they’re working from home, he added, they might feel okay getting back to their remote desks after just a few days off, because no one can see them.
Still other potential patients are taking advantage of the fact that there aren’t any in-person weddings, bar or bat mitzvahs, or major vacations to work around, Levine said. Plus, if they are still employed, they aren’t spending money on those vacations or many other pre-pandemic activities, and they may have extra cash to spend.
The slowed-down social scene is the reason that Iva Marra, star of the Australian reality show “Yummy Mummies,” has scheduled four procedures with surgeon Daniel Lanzer, including liposuction and a neck lift. “Events haven’t fully ramped up yet, not many people are going out, so if everyone is home, it’s the perfect time to recover,” Marra said.
It has been the perfect storm, according to those in the field. Many workers are spending more time on Zoom, which isn’t the most flattering of mirrors. They’re also realizing they won’t have to return to an office anytime soon, which will make recovery, and keeping surgery private, easier. Those who choose facial surgery can cover postoperative swelling with a mask when in public. Add to that the backlog of patients whose procedures were postponed during shutdowns, and the cosmetic surgeon’s clinic or operating room has become a very coveted place to be.
Jon Mendelsohn, medical director of Advanced Cosmetic Surgery & Laser Center in Cincinnati, said injectable procedures such as Botox and fillers were up 90 percent compared with the same period last year. He doubled his days in the operating room and extended his hours drastically. “During the virtual consultations, 9 out of 10 people commented about noticing these things over Zoom,” Mendelsohn said.
Jason Champagne, a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, Calif., said many people focus on their chin, jawline and neck on Zoom, because the camera angles tend to accentuate those features. “We are not accustomed to seeing ourselves while in conversation with others, so people are paying attention to their facial movements and features while speaking,” Champagne said.
But Zoom is only partly responsible for the spike in interest, and simple injectable procedures aren’t the only ones in high demand. Other people who had considered cosmetic surgery in the past had postponed the idea because of the significant downtime required post-surgery — usually two to four weeks for procedures such as facelifts, for example. But now that they’re working from home, they’re reevaluating.
