Recession Causing Trend Toward Facelift Quickies
More and more people are seeking minimally invasive cosmetic treatments that can be done in under an hour and have short recovery periods so they won’t jeopardize their jobs, a British plastic surgeon has noted.
“The average breast enhancement or facelift can see a person off work for a week or more,” said Ravi Jain, medical director at the Riverbanks Clinic in Bedfordshire, “yet there are a host of other treatments available which can provide similar results with radically shorter recovery times.
“For example, Macrolane is an injectable breast implant which can boost a woman’s bust in just under an hour, and she can return to work the next day,” Jain continued. “Accent RF can give instant lifts with absolutely no downtime and dermal fillers can be done in less than an hour and can take years off a patient’s face. Even liposuction for small pockets of fat can be achieved with Smartlipo, enabling patients to return to work in just two days.”
With economic conditions similarly sagging on the other side of the Atlantic, the trend is likely occurring in America as well. Jain said he believes the spike in “lunchtime” cosmetic treatments that take under an hour to complete is directly connected with employees’ desire to pursue their self-beautification agenda while still appearing to be model hard workers.
The doctor said demand for “quick” Botox and dermal filler procedures has surged by 54 percent over the last few months as compared to the same period in 2007. More than a third of the treatments at Riverbanks Clinic, he said, involve Botox, which can be administered in just 30 minutes and costs about $275 to start with. Treatments with dermal fillers, Smartlipo, Accent RF and SmartXide Dot (for fine lines and wrinkles) have risen, too.
“Patients are increasingly realizing that there are alternative treatments out there, which mean they don’t have to take extended time off work and jeopardize their job security in order to maintain their beauty regime, most of which cost considerably less than traditional cosmetic surgery, too,” said Jain.