Pandemic Plastic Surgery: More People Deciding Now Is The Time To Go Under The Knife

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – “I’ve done more this summer than I’ve ever done in any summer before,” says Charlotte Plastic Surgery’s Dr. Stephan Finical. He is talking about nose jobs. Across the board, business for him and surgeons across the country, is booming right now; an unexpected benefit of the pandemic.

Finical says, “Folks have time off and there are not other distractions,” like summer travel. One patient told Finical’s nurse she was having a tummy tuck now because she “had the time set aside for a vacation she couldn’t take.”

Masks are prompting people to have their lower faces worked on, knowing their bruises, swelling or stitches will be covered and unseen by friends or co-workers.

Bloomberg recently published an article about the plastic surgery boom, and also cited extra cash on hand as another reason people are seeking out surgery right now. A woman named Jocelyn told the publication she paid for a liposuction-like procedure with money she saved because she “wasn’t able to spend as much money as she would have normally, on eating out or shopping excessively.”

Another factor, as Bloomberg puts it: the Zoom of Doom. Video conferencing means people are looking at themselves, a lot. Finical says, “So they’re picking out different issues in their own appearance,” and, “People realize that this is here to stay. And they want to look their best on video because they’re gonna be doing it for a long time, potentially.”

This time of year is typically slow for plastic surgeons. The pandemic has flipped that trend on its head, bringing a business boom to the industry. Finical says, “The summer is typically our slow time. And this summer is not that way.”

Another change: Dr. Finicial says the waiting room is a thing of the past, at least for now. Patients have initial consults over video call. And when they come in for an in-person appointment, they wait in their cars until a nurse brings them back to an exam room.