Cosmetic Surgery Sales Sag

Pamela Anderson, the poster girl for bodily enhancement, displays more than one aftermarket part. Credit: AP Photo.

Cosmetic surgeons are no strangers to promotion, but they are sure ratcheting up the offers now.

Strapped for cash, people may have to let breasts, baggy eyes and even flab sag along with the economy. One doc says he may lower fees even further on his Botox Friday specials. NY Times says 62 percent of plastic surgeons who responded to a questionnaire performed fewer cosmetic procedures in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year. [We reported in June that sales were lagging.]

There's added risk in promotions like this.

"It skews the caution of proper decision-making," said Dr. Adam Searle, a plastic surgeon in London.

All this comes at a time when the nip-'n'-tuck industry was soaring. In 2007, Americans spent more than $13 billion for nearly 11.7 million cosmetic procedures, up from nearly 8.5 million procedures in 2001.

For the record:

Women's top-five cosmetic surgical procedures for 2007:

* Breast augmentation: 399,440 procedures
* Liposuction: 398,848
* Eyelid surgery: 208,199

Men's top-five cosmetic surgical procedures for 2007:

* Liposuction: 57,980 procedures
* Eyelid surgery: 32,564
* Nose reshaping: 31,713

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