When the topic of plastic surgery comes up, we usually picture places like Los Angeles or Beverly Hills as the plastic capitals of the country. So it may be surprising that Salt Lake City Utah plastic surgery is making headlines. According to a recent study by RealSelf.com, Utah ranks #2 in Plastic Surgeons per capita, second only to Miami. The study looked at the number of plastic surgeons per capita and compared the top 50 cities in the U.S. Salt Lake City has six plastic surgeons for every 100,000 people. This includes full body plastic surgeons, cosmetic surgeon, and Utah facial plastic surgeons.
Utah is known for its conservative residents, which is why the statistics may be so surprising but there are a number of reasons projected for the popularity for plastic surgery in Utah. One reason for the high number of plastic surgeons may be that women in Utah get married and have multiple children at a young age. So by the time they are done having children, they are still young and want to restore their body to the state it was in prior to having children.
Dr. York Yates, a full body plastic surgeon in Salt Lake City states, “Another reason that plastic surgery is so popular in Utah is the number of patients whom travel from out of town for plastic surgery. The cost of plastic surgery is quite inexpensive when compared to the rest of the U.S. For example, the cost of a tummy tuck is around $5,000 – $7,000 as compared to $8,000 – $15,000 in places like California. The cost of breast augmentation is around $4,000 as compared to around $6,000-$10,000 in many other states.
The competition from the number of plastic surgeons has driven the prices down. Similarly, the cost of living is a little lower than many areas in the U.S. Patients are flocking from all over the country to benefit from these low prices. I would estimate that 20% of cosmetic surgery patients visit my practice from out of state. Salt Lake City has a large, convenient, international airport which makes the travel easy and is a short flight from California and other more populated areas.”
Dr. Scott Thompson, Utah facial plastic surgeon who has practiced in SLC for over 10 years, believes one likely reason is that Utahns are typically very health conscious and concerned about health and appearance.
“As I meet with patients each day and discuss this very question, my sense is that this desire is not typically externally motivated or influenced in the sense that they feel pressure to meet some arbitrary standard, but rather, patients simply want to feel better about the person that they see in the mirror each day. Many are well into middle age or beyond but remain active, motivated, energetic members of society. Not only do they want to feel good about whom they see in the mirror, but often they want to project an image that fits their energy level and enthusiasm for life and career.”
For more information on plastic surgery in Utah, read “Why Are So Many Mormon’s Getting Boob Jobs?” HERE.