Plastic surgery has grown from an industry reserved for only the wealthiest people to a self improvement industry where nearly anyone has access to one of a number of types of cosmetic surgery. In fact, nearly 12 million cosmetic surgical procedures are performed each year in the United States.

Types of Cosmetic Surgery

There are two basic kinds of cosmetic surgery procedures: non-invasive and invasive. Non-invasive cosmetic improvements include things such as skin resurfacing through peels, lasers and dermabrasion, Botox injections and skin filler injections such as hyaluronic acid or collagen for wrinkle reduction, and hair removal with laser treatments. Invasive plastic surgery includes procedures such as liposuction, face lifts, breast augmentation and tummy tucks.

Cosmetic Surgery for Women

Women account for over 90 percent of all types of plastic surgery. The most common kinds of cosmetic surgery procedures for women include breast augmentation, facelifts, eyelid surgery, liposuction and abdominoplasty.

Many women choose to combine several plastic surgery procedures at once. For example, “mommy-makeovers” are quite common combining breast augmentation or a breast lift with liposuction or abdominoplasty. Combining a tummy tuck with a thigh lift can also be done fairly easily, though this will increase the recovery time and cost.

The most common types of plastic surgery procedures in the non-invasive category are Botox injections, skin filler injections, laser hair removal and microdermabrasion. Some women choose to get some of these treatments at aesthetician’s offices or spas while others choose to see a board certified cosmetic surgeon.

Plastic Surgery for Men

Though men account for only less than 10 percent of cosmetic surgery, more and more men are choosing to get more procedures done and the rate of increase is double that of the increase for women.

The most common types of plastic surgery for men are actually in the non-invasive category and include Botox injections, laser hair removal, microdermabrasion and skin filler injections with hyaluronic acid or collagen in the lines of the face.

Common kinds of cosmetic surgery in the invasive category include liposuction, eyelid surgery, nose jobs (rhinoplasty), male breast reduction for cases of gynecomastia and hair transplants.

Plastic Surgery Types by Age

Nearly 50 percent of all plastic surgery procedures were received by those who are aged 35 to 50 and the most common type of cosmetic surgery was liposuction. In the category of age 51 to 64 years, the most common type was eyelid surgery and people of this age group involved about 25 percent of all cases. Those aged 19 to 34 were most likely to get breast augmentation or laser hair removal and accounted for just over 20 percent of procedures performed.

With the advent of more and more types of cosmetic surgery and choices for non-surgical cosmetic treatments, the number of procedures performed each year has been rising by around 7 percent and continues to grow as more people wish to improve their appearance by one kind of plastic surgery or another.