There are many reasons facelift surgery remains popular in the United States. Social media continues to be a primary driver of Americans’ desire to look beautifully youthful. A competitive job market can make maintaining a face that projects vitality a must. Dating app users may find the most success when their profile pic looks healthy instead of aged. Patients with weight loss, especially with the use of GLP-1 agonists, have significant changes in the soft tissues of their face. Whatever the reason, patients choosing facial surgery to help with their appearance are opting for one procedure in growing numbers: facelift. The Philadelphia area’s Dr. Brian Buinewicz says that while the procedure has long enjoyed popularity in Pennsylvania and beyond, that popularity seems to be increasing even more.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, more than 72,000 facelift surgeries were performed in the United States in 2023. To be precise, the total number—combined from research that includes reports from plastic surgeons around the country—was 72,686. That represents a 7 percent increase over the prior year.
In fact, almost every facial cosmetic surgery procedure available grew in popularity, with the exception of cheek implants (which dropped 2 percent) and facial fat grafting (which essentially stayed the same).
Like facelifts, chin augmentation—also known as mentoplasty—saw a 7 percent rise in total treatments performed in the United States in 2023. Topping the list in terms of numbers of procedures provided was eyelid surgery, while the biggest percentage increase goes to ear surgery, which saw an 11 percent jump from 2022 to 2023.
So what do all of these numbers mean for patients? The figures mean that impactful facial cosmetic surgery is on the rise across the board. One factor that could be providing some of the boost may be patients realizing that more than one procedure is often the way to go. A facelift, for example, focuses on lax tissue, prominent creases, and other effects of time and gravity in the lowermost parts of the face. Forehead surgery is naturally limited to that uppermost portion of the face.
Targeting only one area with surgery can be helpful for patients with isolated aging, but most people—women and men alike—tend to show signs of aging in more than one place. Thus, a facelift alone can leave signs of aging higher on the face, while a forehead lift on its own can have the opposite consequence.
Combining facelifts and other procedures into a more comprehensive “package” is often ideal, since it allows the entire face to look naturally rejuvenated all at once.
For more information about facial surgery options for any part of the face, contact Buinewicz Plastic Surgery.
