What is your cosmetic treatment?

Non-invasive cosmetic treatments appear to be more popular with one in ten adults (9 per cent) having teeth whitening, bonding or other cosmetic dental work, and smaller numbers (1 per cent) having facial skin resurfacing treatments, laser treatments for veins, hair removal, etc., and/or injections for wrinkles.

With one exception, the majority of adults who have had invasive cosmetic treatments, including lasik eye surgery, liposuction, and various cosmetic surgeries, have done so electively rather than out of medical necessity. Only those having bariatric surgery for weight loss have had the procedure more so for medical than elective reasons (77 per cent to 23 per cent).

"While Americans seem increasingly concerned about the costs of health care, there is also a sector of the public that is willing to pay for a variety of elective cosmetic procedures,"​ says Katherine Binns, senior vice president of health care at Harris Interactive. "More than one in ten adults have received non-invasive cosmetic treatments such as laser treatments, skin resurfacing, injections for wrinkles and cosmetic dentistry; and men are just as likely as women to have these treatments."​

Non-invasive treatments and procedures are administered by a variety of providers including MDs, technicians and other types of medical professionals.

Of those receiving either invasive or non-invasive treatments, almost two-thirds (63 per cent) were not very or were not at all concerned about the potential risks or complications before the procedure. Only seven percent of those receiving invasive or non-invasive treatments have had any medical problems that required follow-up as a result of any procedure they received.

The poll was conducted online in the US between September 9 and 13, 2004 among a nationwide cross section of 2,719 adults. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income and region were weighted where necessary to align with population proportions.