Life has changed as we’d never have imagined. In some ways, our world has become small: many people work from home, travel has been curtailed, and we don’t socialize as much as we used to. This won’t go on forever. Surely, at some point, the world will bounce back to some semblance of normality, although we know and accept that things will never be exactly the same.
Interestingly, there has been a worldwide increase in interest in aesthetic procedures, both surgical and non-surgical, over the last 18 months. This may well be a form of the “Lipstick Effect” – during crises, consumers have been shown to spend more willingly on less costly luxury items. There may be an evolutionary psychology component to this too – in difficult times, women make themselves more attractive to attract a mate, thereby ensuring the survival of the human race.
Or it could simply be to defy the challenging times that we live in and make us feel better.
Plastic Surgery In A Pandemic
According to ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgery) data, there was only a 15% decrease in cosmetic procedures performed in 2020 – and, remember, during the hard lockdowns, no cosmetic surgery was performed, and doctors’ offices were closed, so no non-surgical procedures were done either. One would’ve expected that figure to be much higher.
The top five most-common plastic-surgery procedures remained the same during this period (breast augmentation, liposuction, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, and facelift surgery). There have been more requests for non-surgical facial procedures, though – the Zoom effect. We’re forced to watch ourselves on screen for hours as we work remotely. There’s a direct link between what we see (on-screen) and how we feel.
Plastic surgery, safety and timing
Photo by JAFAR AHMED on Unsplash
This is a good time to do the surgical procedure you’ve always wanted. Before, you just didn’t have the time, with all the other commitments you had.
Spending less time with others gives you time to recover from a procedure without explanations to colleagues and friends. And if you’re working from home, you can hide that early post-operative recovery period.
While we don’t recommend complex elective surgery when hospitals are overwhelmed, it is safe to have plastic surgery.
Practices have strict protocols for cleaning and social distancing. Patients routinely perform a PCR test prior to surgery. I recommend that my patients self-isolate for a week before their surgery. Now, surgical patients in most countries would also likely have been vaccinated.
The benefits of elective surgery
Aesthetic surgery can improve self-esteem. If you feel more confident, it makes your interactions with others more positive and can have a similar effect on many aspects of your life. It also affirms that life will get better when the pandemic is over. But it’s not a magic wand that will make all of life’s problems disappear, so it’s important to have realistic expectations.
About the author
Dr Vivien Jandera is a fully qualified plastic surgeon and member of the APRSSA working in South Africa. She offers her services across the spectrum of plastic and reconstructive surgery. Dr Jandera is also a registered Restylane and Botox trainer.
Her full bio is listed below.
