ASPS Survey Reveals Women Confused but Drawn to Facial Injectables

Arlington Heights, Ill. – Despite their apparent confusion about what facial injectables such as Restylane® do, most women say they favor injectables over surgical options, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive® for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) released today. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of the respondents agreed that they would "much rather" have a facial injectable treatment than a surgical one.

"ASPS reported earlier this year how patients are choosing the needle over the knife for minimally-invasive procedures," said Roxanne Guy, MD, ASPS president. "These survey findings underscore that point. But the findings also illustrate that women are confused. We need to continue to educate consumers about treatment options so they can make good choices. Now we have a baseline from which to plan future public education initiatives on this growing sector of plastic surgery."

Responses from nearly 800 women ages 35 to 69 across the United States revealed that on average, women would prefer to look 13 years younger than their actual age. The signs of aging on the face that women are most likely to be extremely or very concerned with are wrinkles (44%) and sagging skin (41%). Qualified respondents had a household income of at least $35,000 in 2005 and indicated that they were at least somewhat likely to have a medical anti-aging treatment in the next two years.

Key Findings:

Confusion
One in five (21%) of respondents said the use of a facial injectable will prevent the need for a facelift in the future, which is rarely the case.

One-third (32%) of women are not sure how long facial injectables will last. Only 15% cited that it depends on the product, which is the correct answer.

Respondents are split on whether "facial injectables are low-risk treatments." One-third (34%) agreed with this statement while one-third (34%) disagreed.

Expectations & Perception
Women concerned about longer lasting results are concerned about cost, but to a significantly lesser degree than women not concerned about longer lasting results (62% vs. 80%).

Women who are most familiar with and more likely to consider treatments cited confidence, improving intimate relationships and "keeping up" with other women as reasons for considering facial injectable treatments.

Four in five (78%) expect this treatment to leave them with a natural looking, refreshed appearance.
Nearly seven in 10 expect the treatment would smooth wrinkles, lines and folds (69%) and lead to a rejuvenated skin appearance (66%).

Two in five (43%) women are excited by the new options available for facial injectable treatments.

Knowledge Base
Two in three (66%) agree these treatments have improved significantly in the last few years.
Six in 10 (63%) agree that there is a minimal recovery period for facial injectables.

Doing their Homework
Not surprisingly, women who noted they were more likely to consider an anti-aging treatment were significantly more likely to be very or extremely familiar with medical anti-aging treatments (58% vs. 12%).

More than 9 out of 10 (91%) would go to a health professional to obtain information about a facial injectable treatment. Of these, dermatologists (70%) and plastic surgeons (61%) were most commonly cited. Additionally, more than half of women (56%) would go to Internet health sites to seek information about facial injectable treatments.

Nearly half (48%) would most likely go to a plastic surgeon to perform the treatment, while more than three in 10 (36%) would most likely go to a dermatologist.

More than 9 out of 10 (96%) felt it was very or extremely important for the professional administering facial injectable treatments to be trained in these procedures.

In the United States, minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures have skyrocketed to more than 8.4 million performed in 2005, a 53% increase since 2000, according to the ASPS. Soft tissue filler procedures have increased 34% over this same period of time. In 2005, about half (48%) of all minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures were performed on patients between the ages of 35 and 50. However, the greatest growth from 2000 to 2005 occurred among patients between the ages of 51 to 64, where there was an 85% increase in procedures performed.

Learn more about non-surgical cosmetic procedures such facial fillers (eg Restylane, Radiesse) here.