Selfies, Social Media, and Their Strange Effects on the Plastic Surgery Industry

SLS Consulting is constantly exploring how social media can be used to promote and improve business. Social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are now essential tools for letting your clients and your potential clients know who you are and why they should be doing business with you.

These platforms are also making plastic surgeons VERY happy.

According to a recent study conducted by the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), one in three plastic surgeons say that social media is responsible for an increase in the number of patients seeking cosmetic surgery and other non-surgical procedures, such as Botox injections.

Why is social media becoming a game-changer for plastic surgeons?

Selfies.

It seems as though many people who are taking selfies and posting them do not like what they are seeing and are turning more and more to plastic surgeons to fix perceived image problems. The study found that nose procedures, hair transplants, and eyelid surgeries all saw marked increases in 2013.

“Social platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and the iPhone app Selfie.im, which are solely image based, force patients to hold a microscope up to their own image and often look at it with a more self-critical eye than ever before,” stated Edward Farrior, the president of the AAFPRS. “These images are often the first impressions young people put out there to prospective friends, romantic interests, and employers and our patients want to put their best face forward.”

According to the survey, more people under 30 are turning to non-surgical procedures and surgical remedies to change the image they are sending out to the world. More than half of the surgeons surveyed (58 percent) said that they saw an increase in business among this younger set.

While social media platforms seem to be spurring more people to seek cosmetic procedures, video-chat software is also contributing to the uptick.

A former president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons told Digital Trends, “Skype, FaceTime, and other live talk features on digital devices have led to more consultations and procedures … neurotoxins, fillers, laser procedures, as well as neck and face lifts and eyelid tucks are being requested by these ‘social’ individuals.”

SLS Consulting will continue to champion the use of social media platforms when it comes to touting your business and making it look good. How good you think you personally look and what you may want to do about that is up to you.