Happy New Year: The Busiest Season for Cosmetic Surgery
The Wall Street Journal
HEALTH & WELLNESS
DECEMBER 29, 2011
By KATHERINE ROSMAN
Beauty takes no holiday.
December, particularly the latter half, is the busiest time of the year for many plastic surgeons, cosmetic dermatologists and doctors who perform weight-loss operations like gastric bypass. Some doctors say they do twice as many of these elective procedures per day in this period as during the rest of the year.
The reason: After many cosmetic procedures patients want to go underground during the days-long recovery period, which might involve swelling, bruising and oozing. The holiday season makes it easier to avoid interacting with others at work or in school car pools. This year, with Christmas and New Year’s both falling on weekends, a patient can be under the knife or laser beams early in the week and still be presentable by the time the parties start.
For plastic surgeons, the most popular procedures for December are those that require the most time for healing, like face-lifts. Dr. Franklin Rose, a plastic surgeon in Houston, says this month has been his busiest ever. He performed about 20 operations a week, twice the norm during the year. He routinely was operating well into the night, missing out on visits to the gym and attending holiday parties with family. “With surgeons in December, you can have some unhappy wives,” Dr. Rose says.
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