Cosmetic surgery gets lift from TV and low fees

Increasing numbers of people in Britain are defying nature by going under the cosmetic surgeon's knife. A survey shows almost 700,000 cosmetic procedures will be performed this year, at a cost of £539m.

And the market analyst Mintel predicts that by 2009 the total number is expected to top one million, at a cost of almost £1bn. Botox, breast enlargements and facelifts are the most popular procedures.

Doctors said the increasing accessibility of cosmetic surgery was fuelling the boom, and television programmes such as Ten Years Younger, Extreme Makeover and Bridal Grooming had also moved surgical enhancement into the realms of the ordinary person on the street.

Social attitudes also appear to be changing. Only 28 per cent of people questioned said they opposed cosmetic surgery. Almost one in four women and one in 10 men were considering going under the knife.

Jenny Catlin, senior market analyst at Mintel, said: "Exposure to and desensitising of cosmetic surgery through TV coverage and the popularity of procedures among celebrities has invariably played a key role.

"As further medical developments offer less invasive cosmetic procedures and the 'mystique' factor lessens, the market will attract new customers."

The number of cosmetic surgery procedures this year will be 40 per cent up on 2005, and represent a 240 per cent increase on 2001. Botox injections and other non-invasive treatments such as chemical peels accounted for 85 per cent of the market.

More than 30,000 face and neck operations were done in 2005. Breast enlargements increased from 10,000 in 2003 to 26,000 last year. Tummy tucks, nose jobs, vein-zapping and eye and ear operations were also popular.

Cost is the biggest turn-off. A third of those questioned cited that as a reason for not having treatment. Almost one in five said the main motive would be to prevent signs of ageing.

Debbie Ashcroft, 48, of Widnes, Cheshire, has had a neck lift, brow lift and surgery to her lower and upper eyelidsafter watching Ten Years Younger. "I looked in the mirror and saw an old face looking back at me," she said. "I didn't feel as old as I looked and it just began to get me down."

Mrs Ashcroft, who is married with a 12-year-old daughter, contacted the programme makers and had surgery worth £12,000 by Jan Stanek, who runs the Surgical Aesthetics clinic in London.