Numbers of Cosmetic Surgeries Down

With all the bad economic news, there's one business whose falling numbers may signal good news for women. Procedures like cosmetic surgeries and even Botox injections are decreasing in popularity. Taking their place is a shifting of priorities and re-evaluation of our standards of beauty.

An article in the NY Daily News quotes some revealing statistics from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery which show the downward trend. According to their study, Americans are receiving 11% fewer breast augmentations, 25.3% fewer liposuctions and 19% fewer eye tucks. Even the number of Botox injections, which are more affordable, have gone down in the last year.

Maybe with tight economic times people are looking at what's really important and deciding that quality of life is not dependent on meeting a standard of beauty that can only be obtained through surgical intervention.

The trend seems healthy to me, and that might sound strange to hear on a blog that talks about cosmetics and beauty, but there's a difference between finding the right products to help you look your best and radically altering your natural appearance because you don't feel you are acceptable as you are.

I am in favor of cosmetic surgery when it's done to correct defects that affect quality of life or when the surgery can increase confidence. But too often, people are having unnecessary surgeries and procedures and all too often, going for cut-rate services that leave them scarred and unhappy. How much better it would be if society started to accept all the variations of human beauty and we all learned to value ourselves and each other for more lasting and important qualities.

See the NY Daily News Article: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/fashion/2009/03/22/2009-03-22_forget_plastic_surgery__casual_plain_jan.html