Coronavirus pandemic affected every aspect of life. Most countries entered lockdown by March 2020, and work-life shifted to online mode for an indefinite period. As you started attending the meetings on Zoom, the “Touch Up My Appearance” feature drew the attention of millions. It is a filter service for video conferencing, which can soften the skin appearance and minimize facial imperfections considerably.
While your boss and teammates have been busy discussing logistics, you couldn’t help staring at yourself to praise the perfect smile lines and prominent facial features, which seems to have developed overnight. As the months flew off, you have also developed the crow’s feet in the quarantine.
Rush for cosmetic surgeries
The reputed plastic surgeons expected an immediate decrease in the incoming queries and calls after the lockdown. But much to their surprise, there was a notable rise in the phone calls. The top-rated surgeons who handle the procedures of the top celebrities may not reveal much about their clients or the procedures. But the surgeons definitely were dumbfounded when there was a necessity to recruit new staff just to manage the countless phone calls.
Popular requests
Although the celebrities don’t have to attend the balls, parties, and fundraisers, the very idea of getting ample time for relaxed recovery has been tempting enough to place requests to the top cosmetic surgeons. The highest requests have been regarding the enhancement of the neck, face, nose, and eyes. The reason? Well, according to the experienced professionals, the actors and other celebrities utilized the lockdown phase by either staring at the mirrors or joining Zoom meetings and noticed the imperfections in the upper body.
Demand among the mass
Highly lucrative offers from the people belonging to the elite class is now a common affair to then cosmetic surgeons. While some are offering to pay them four times their charge, some are offering to fly them off in their private jet and keep them in their apartment for a month only to undergo a cosmetic procedure. But the surprising fact was the calls from the people belonging to the middle class too. At-home requests were common during the entire lockdown period.
Common reasons
According to the best professionals in the field, there have been numerous reasons that contributed to the sudden high demand for cosmetic surgeries post quarantine period.
• Abundant time: Work from home has become the new-normal working trend. So most of the workers can save time from office journeys. Hence, the tiredness is also low, even after an entire day’s work. These people are utilizing this excess time to assess their looks and detecting the flaws. Thus, there is an urge to correct the imperfections.
• Failing to distinguish: Often, the surgeons had to perform procedures on traumatic patients like the ones suffering from early breast cancer and skin cancer. Close people of the patients might fail to distinguish between essential and non-essential procedures. Thus people demanding tummy tucks also showed up with requests, ignoring that it is non-essential, especially during the pandemic.
• Time for recovery: For many professionals, it is difficult to get leave from work. But the work-from-home concept has been a boon to them. If you belong to this category of people, then you would definitely aim for this period to complete some cosmetic surgery that you longed to undergo. You can get abundant time to recover and take ample rest as there is no need to go out.
Worldwide statistics
The lockdown phase and the following unlocking phases have been witnessing a surge in cosmetic surgeries like never before.
• There has been a notable 45% increase in the demand for Labioplasty from 2015.
• The demand for upper body correctional procedures is far more than that for lower body enhancements from March 2020.
• Breast augmentation has been constituting 15% of the total procedures happening.
• On a global platform, 86.2% of all cosmetic procedures have been for women.
• Men undergo a few common procedures like liposuction, hair transplantation, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, and eyelid surgery.
Problems rising concern
The lockdown has completely ruined the plans of the cosmetic surgeon. If you had the plan to undergo surgery during the month of May, then the surgeon must have postponed it to June. Then the dates again shifted to July. But this cycle cannot go on as the doctor needs a lot of planning to perform a procedure. As a patient, you also need to do some planning at work and home front. People who expected the surgery from March to May are still waiting. The confusion affected the patients and surgeons. As the unlocking started, the rush was beyond expectation.
Effect of Covid-19
COVID-19 has completely changed the way of cosmetic surgery practices.
• A constant need to maintain the patient schedule effectively as the doctors have to minimize the time you have to spend in the waiting room.
• Explaining to people the importance of consultation. Surgery is not always necessary to make improvements in the aesthetic.
• Virtual consultation is not sufficient to determine whether you need surgery and assign you the date for the procedure. The doctors have to maintain the protocol.
To summarize, the doctors have to spend a lot of time talking than performing the surgeries. Unless you understand why you should undergo surgery or why to avoid it, you cannot make the decision.
Masks conceal marks
The surgeons were wrong to think that the masks will discourage people from undergoing any procedures below eye level. Instead, candidates are using the mask as a shield to conceal the bruises and swelling after a lip injection. At normal times, you have to make up reasons for not attending functions or social gatherings within three days of the procedure. But now, there is no need to make up reasons too. You can also easily avoid turning on the camera during meetings saying whether the camera is not working.
Altogether, while the pandemic has negatively affected most industries, the cosmetic surgery industry witnessed a boom in the post quarantine period.
