After the protests in June, and celebrations involving Memorial Day and July 4th weekends, we’re seeing an inevitable surge associated with mass gatherings. This leads to a continuing shelter-in-place, reducing travel plans and working from home for the foreseeable future. These mass gatherings and changes in consumer behavior are leading to a surge in both coronavirus and cosmetic surgery. What’s the connection?
Coronavirus and Cosmetic Surgery are surging
This phenomenon of increasing cosmetic surgery along with an increase in the coronavirus was recently highlighted in this article.
Since March, consumers are home, on ZOOM, seeing their reflection more than ever before. Naturally, some will see things they want to address. Like Botox or fillers for wrinkles.
They’re also realizing this is the best time to get that Mommy Makeover or other procedures they’ve been considering. With trips cancelled, that frees up more disposable income. And with the ability to work from home after a procedure, it’s easy to avoid questions from coworkers about why you were “out” or what you had done. If you just had a Brazilian Butt Lift, you won’t have to explain why you’re sitting on a pillow!
This increase in cosmetic surgery isn’t isolated. Across elective surgery websites, including BuildMyBod.com, where consumers can check pricing on outpatient services, traffic is up 73.4%! So while not everyone is getting cosmetic surgery or other elective procedures, they’re certainly considering it.
Think of a sales funnel. More consumers are entering the top of the funnel and checking pricing. As more folks enter the funnel, more will progress through the funnel, ask questions, schedule consults and then book surgery.
Safeguards with coronavirus and cosmetic surgery are surging
With the increasing surge in both coronavirus and cosmetic surgery, new safeguards are necessary. For plastic surgeons that perform cosmetic surgery at hospitals, their ability to operate is being curbed. As discussed here, cosmetic surgery is slow to start for several reasons at hospitals. Most significantly, the need for hospitals to make up lost revenue with better paying elective cases like orthopedic procedures.
But for outpatient surgery centers or office-based operating rooms, surgeons are performing a great deal of cosmetic surgery. To keep those patients safe, patients are undergoing COVID testing in the community prior to surgery. And in some offices, like ours, we perform an antibody test the morning of surgery.
While the coronavirus is a serious ongoing pandemic, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the end is not in sight. Therefore, we must mitigate the risks and move forward with our lives as safely as possible. That includes accommodating patients that want non-essential procedures such as cosmetic surgery. And based on web traffic and bookings, they’re clearly on board.
Click here for the original blog post written by Dr. Kaplan for BuildMyBod.
