More and more young people are paying up for cosmetic procedures.
It’s been over 20 years since Botox was approved by the FDA for cosmetic use in the United States. Since then, many dermatologists and plastic surgeons are now catering to Millennials and even Gen Z consumers who are trying to fight the effect of aging, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Between weight loss shots, anti-wrinkle injections, rhinoplasty, and other procedures, younger people are increasingly turning to these solutions for cosmetic purposes.
D’Lane Compton, Professor of Sociology at UNO, says much of the transition to younger people increasingly getting cosmetic procedures done has to do with both the increasing accessibility of such procedures, along with social media and societal pressure.
“It’s definitely about the technological improvements and affordability. There are also a belief among many in academia that role models in Hollywood have a lot to do with this increase,” Compton points out.
While cosmetic procedures used to be viewed as invasive and costly, the more passive nature of many newer procedures has taken much of that stigma away.
“We’ve been doing body modification in some way for quite some time. It’s been more open with things such as tattoos and piercings for people to be able to get those without as much stigma,” Compton goes on to say. “Right now, people are very into teeth straightening and teeth whitening. We don’t seem to have a problem with that.
So, I think it’s been a slow shift toward these things that people find more aesthetically pleasing for themselves to do without the pushback you used to get over some of these procedures.”
Another interesting stat is that younger men are increasingly getting cosmetic procedures done, outpacing women in some areas.
Compton says much of the normalization of these procedures comes from the crossing of gender lines and men seeing procedures such as pectoral implants or hair transplants as increasingly viable options. This creates an easing across society as people of both sexes normalize surgical options and other procedures.
