Studies show that people are becoming more aware of cosmetic procedures at a younger age. Younger customers are on the lookout for treatments that can enhance their appearance and fend off the signs of aging, without removing them from their daily lives. More surgeons than ever are seeing millennials flocking to their practices, all demanding non-surgical treatments with minimal downtime, that they learned about online.
With increasingly packed schedules, heightened interconnectivity with peers, and a world of information at their fingertips, millennials are a huge growth opportunity in the aesthetics market.
Growth Opportunities in “Prejuvenation”
Growth in the market for non-surgical procedures stems in part from millennials, the generation born between 1981 and 1997. Over the past few years, more and more consumers under age 30 are demanding non-invasive cosmetic procedures. Americans spent $13.5 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2015, and 42% of those procedures were nonsurgical. That same year, a survey of American facial plastic surgeons showed that 67% of practitioners had an increase of patients under age 30. By 2016, patients aged 19 to 34 made up over one-sixth (16.3%) of nonsurgical procedures. The bulk of those procedures were injectables, chemical peels, and skin rejuvenation treatments. Botox in particular is booming among millennials. When they do opt for surgery, the choices are minimally invasive and oddly specific—something called a “dimpleplasty” is the new trend in millennial medical aesthetic treatments, to give young patients an Instagram-ready smile in under an hour.
As impressive as those numbers are, they still don’t capture the full scope of millennial demand for non-invasive rejuvenation, including skincare, sun protection, and heavy-duty moisturizers to prevent the effects of premature aging.
In other words, millennials are interested in low-stress procedures to preemptively fight the signs of aging. The number of skin rejuvenation procedures recently rose 22.7%, and American facial plastic surgeons reported that over half of their patients demand chemical peels. These preemptive treatments to fight the signs of aging, or “prejuvenation” are in high demand among millennial patients.
Why Does This Demographic Matter?
Linked by technology and spurred by capital, millennials have incredible access to information and ideas about aesthetics. Young people are perpetually seeing and sharing ideas of beauty that make aesthetic treatments more appealing than ever. Millennials spend a lot of time looking at themselves and each other, and are spending more money on making themselves look as good as possible.
These factors have also brought about a “commodity” attitude towards treatments in medical aesthetics, where hyper-informed consumers shop around online between providers and peers for specific procedures and results. Many well-informed patients, especially millennials, have become devotees of using sunscreen, moisturizers, retinoids and antioxidants to maintain youthful skin. In conjunction with physician-directed facial treatments, these patients establish a complete program that yields strong results.
Millennials are a highly knowledgeable, internet-savvy, aging-conscious demographic, with a finely-tuned sense of their appearance, an openness towards aesthetic treatments, and a preference for non-invasive options. It’s no surprise that millennials are such a growing force in the medical aesthetics market!
Practice Enhancement Tips
