Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery Blog – Harley Medical Group

Men represent the largest area of growth for the cosmetic surgery industry in Australia, according to one expert.

President of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery (ACCS), Dr Russell Knudsen, said: “It was traditionally a female-dominated business, but the fastest growing segment of the market is men.

“They obviously don’t have breast augmentation, but they do have love handles, abdomens, they have their bellies sucked of fat as they get older.”

Dr Knudsen went on to say that as men continue to work later in life, they are choosing procedures that can help them to look younger.

“Guys who are healthy at 60 or 65 don’t want to give up their careers and lose relevance”, he said.

The revelation comes after figures published yesterday valued the Australian cosmetic surgery market at $1 billion, proving that it can withstand the effects of a recession.

Experts speaking at a conference run by the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery (ACCS) have revealed that the cosmetic surgery industry in Australia is now worth $1 billion annually.

The Cosmetex Conference opened in Hobart, Tasmania, yesterday and is expected to be attended by more than 700 doctors and surgeons from across Australia and the rest of the world over the next three days.

On the opening day, the ACCS president Russell Knudsen told delegates that the effects of the recession had not adversely affected the market.

“Demand for cosmetic medical procedures has continued to rise with college member practices reporting increases of 10-20 per cent over the last 12 months,” he said.

Dr Knudsen added: “When you consider the number of cosmetic procedures performed, and the number of take-home anti-ageing products consumed, it is reasonable to estimate that Australians now spend as much as $1 billion annually on appearance medicine.”

It was revealed that the $1 billion annual value of the market was made up of a variety of procedures, including approximately 16,000 breast augmentations and 15,000 liposuction surgeries performed last year.