The Plastic Boom: Influences on the Plastic Surgery Trend of 2021
A few days ago at work, I noticed an astonishing trend that you would not expect of. While I was on break, I went on TikTok and noticed a new viral trend that just showed up on my ‘For You Page’, and that got me thinking. Since I was on my computer and Google Trends was open on a tab, I inputted “plastic surgery” to see what it would bring up. I hit enter and what’s next is a continued effort of research to see what this was all about. In the last 5 years, plastic surgery has not been this highly searched. This was important for the industry I work in and the industry of health and wellness.
Looking at the chart from Google Trends, I noticed a spike in people searching “plastic surgery” from the end of December of 2020 to the end of February of 2021. I was in shock why no one was writing about this trend. I was actually trying to research more about why this trend was so high in search. I had to do my own digging to see what happened throughout those months, which led to the push-in search of a plastic surgeon nearby to get more information.
The Pandemic Trend
To begin, something that is obvious is the pandemic. The pandemic itself pushed what is now the plastic boom that has given people the time and freedom to pursue plastic surgery in private or all over social media. You might wonder who would get plastic surgery in the middle of a pandemic when your face is nowhere near people at the moment. Since most people have been working from home for the better part of 2020 and entering 2021, this may have been the perfect time to wear your pajamas and have a nose job while you’re at it. The recovery time for plastic surgery may be something to think about when you’re always on the road, working, or seeing people throughout the day. Still, this pandemic trend of plastic surgery gave people the confidence and security they needed to finally have time for their dream look. Not only had time, but people also had more money saved up that they didn’t have to use for expenses, such as traveling or eating out. It’s all sitting there in the bank waiting to be spent. That’s the perfect combination for a trend that was on its way.
The TikTok Trends
From plastic surgery filters, from influencers such as the most followed TikTok star Charli D’amelio getting plastic surgery, hashtag frenzies like #NoseJobCheck #plasticsurgery, which has over 7 billion views. People all over social media, including TikTok, have made plastic surgery cool again, including the most sought-after procedure, the rhinoplasty, which in teenage terms, a nose job. Teenagers sitting in their room dancing, eating, and educating about plastic surgery have given more press to the plastic surgery industry than any money can buy. Not only are teenagers becoming stars on TikTok with this trend, but plastic surgeons have joined in on it and become successful TikTok influencers on the platform.
To tell you the truth, I had never seen surgery on social media until I opened TikTok. Its algorithm for the ‘For You Page’ actually takes random content as you swipe down and know what you are interested in better than you do yourself. As you watch videos, the system learns what videos you would enjoy, and the rest is history. You’re on the app for hours, and at least 3 of the videos in that hour for the better part of the last year have been about plastic surgery trends. The algorithm picks up on what others like and what you would enjoy or be educated by.
All these transformations have made people replicate the trend and get the same surgeries as some TikTok stars. To test how readily videos about plastic surgery come up on TikTok, Insider made a TikTok account with a 14-year-old age account and swiped until something about plastic surgery came up. It only took 8 minutes, and a plastic surgery video came up. This seems really interesting considering how robust the TikTok algorithm is and why it’s attracted to young audiences.
The popularity of plastic surgery has made plastic surgery videos more than 15 billion times across all videos and hashtags on TikTok alone. Two surgeries have become a viral trend on social media, nose job surgery (rhinoplasty) and face injections, more notably lip injections. People have made hashtags, but there is even a nose job check sound that has been copied by over 150,000 people with similar videos. Just looking at that, we can see more than 150,000 new people with rhinoplasty surgery just for a TikTok video.
When I was in middle school, the remarkable trend, believe it or not, was getting braces and straight teeth. Seeing everyone with colorful teeth every other month got me in the motion to get braces for 2 years in middle school. From my own experience, seeing influences you to get your own, but it’s actually showing a video review on how well it can work, and to be honest, if it wasn’t for the braces, I would not have straight teeth today. So if we are going to someone, we have to thank social proof for validating what can be. While social media is making plastic surgery cool again, it should not be exposed to minors significantly younger than 13. TikTok lacks age verification because it is easy to bypass and creates underage viewing. As long as the videos uploaded are suggested as not graphic content, they do not go against TikTok’s policy.
There is nothing characteristically wrong with cosmetic surgery if you’re getting it for your own self-image and not replicating someone else. People, just like Charli D’Amelio from TikTok, publicly outlined her journey into her nose job procedure and how this fixed her year-long battle with breathing difficulty. Beauty should come from the inside and if you need to change something, do it for the right reasons and not for a trend. There are excellent plastic surgeons out there who need recognition of both cosmetic and life-threatening surgeries performed on patients. That should not take away the fact that plastic surgery is here to stay and will keep trending.
The Zoom effect
Camera Check! Sound Check! You’re Live! The pandemic has slowed down interaction with humans, but it has not stopped the trend for face-to-face interactions through video calls for work, school, and friends. The stay-at-home close-up has been getting a little too close for comfort for many, especially when you can see your own reflection countless times. This has brought in insecurities for women and allowed to change their appearance with the extra stay-at-home order. This is not all a bad thing as people finally control their own needs for once and start getting out of their comfort zones.
Results have proven to make a person look good with lip injections and botox procedures. People have stopped pushing appointments to the next month, took control of their own necessity, and took action. When people can’t show actual body language in person, the appearance through Zoom call is essential to be consistent with looking your best. We don’t see this changing soon as the industry is changing. A percentage of life will continue virtual, especially with these new HD webcams that pick up everything.
The New Year Resolution
When we look at Google Trends, we notice plastic surgery spikes from December to February. Usually, people have saved up money at the end of the year to splurge on themselves and or make new year resolutions. These new year resolutions can include going to the gym, doing something kind, finally read a book, or, in our case, getting that breast lift. In our case, many had plastic surgery on their resolution. The most popular new year resolution by far has to be involved in the appearance, and that’s where the correlation to plastic surgery has come throughout the months.
We asked a Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Som, to talk about the recent trend and what procedure was most popular within the months, and he noticed a rise in rhinoplasty, liposuction, and facelifts, and facial injections. “We were amazed at the influx of patients as soon as we opened after the pandemic closure. We see double the number of patients, and the demand made us expand our center within 2 months. Interest in facial treatments has grown significantly throughout the months. We are happy to educate patients on which procedure is right for them depending on their goals,” said Dr. Som, from Dr. Som Plastic Surgery. Dr. Som also recommends getting plastic surgery done at the beginning of the year for that worry-free summer vacation. While still healing and waiting to surprise loved ones and friends, it’s good to finally adopt and show the change in yourself with a range of treatments, especially non-surgical treatments.
Lasting Trend or Dying Trend for Plastic Surgery?
To call 2021 an unpredictable year would be an understatement. The way I see it, after all the research done in the industry because of this trend, I know it’s going to just continue climbing up. We are finally getting back on our feet in 2021 and finally going out, and that’s not going to stop the plastic surgery trend and the necessities that it brings with beauty. I always say, practice self-care, and the rest will follow. Whether it’s a boob job, nose job, or lip injections, you should always read up on what exactly you’re getting in this current Plastic boom. Your doctor is your best friend, it does not hurt to ask for suggestions if you ever feel like going for a consultation.