New plastic surgery statistics reveal focus on fat

New data released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has revealed a rise in popularity of treatments using fat.

The association’s annual plastic surgery procedural statistics showed a modest 3% growth in cosmetic procedures over the last year with 17.1 million surgical and minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures performed in 2016.

The data showed new cosmetic procedural trends related to the use of fat with minimally invasive cosmetic fat injections increasing by 13%, buttock augmentation using fat grafting increasing by 26% and breast augmentation using fat grafting increasing by 72%.

Newer, non-invasive fat reduction and skin tightening procedures are also gaining popularity among patients, ASPS claims. Injection-based procedures that target fat pockets in specific areas such as under the chin, increased by 18% while non-invasive fat reduction procedures that use special technology to "freeze" fat without surgery increased by 5%. There was also a 5% increase in non-invasive skin tightening procedures that target fat and tighten sagging areas.