Is There a “Perfect Season” for Plastic Surgery?

Spring may be the season of love and summertime may be vacation time for most of us, but what season do you think is the most popular for a nip, tuck, or a fill? It may depend almost entirely on what part of the country you call home.

by John Hammarley
and The Plastic Surgery Channel

When May Depend on Where

“The busiest season? I would say it’s May, June and July,” says Constantino Medienta, MD, whose plastic surgery practice is in Miami. “Now it doesn’t make sense. They want to get ready for the beach. They want to get ready for sun since school is out. But that’s our busiest season. I haven’t been able to figure it out exactly.”

Conversely, Richard Zienowicz, MD, has his plastic surgery practice in Providence, R.I.

“Over the holidays, there’s a lot of eating that goes on. So that by February people anticipate having to take off all the heavy clothes and get into their beach wear,” Dr. Zienowicz says. “Especially for any vacations even earlier than that, so definitely between February and June in the Northeast, it’s slamming.”

What May Determine When 

Now if you’re going to be happy with in-office, non-invasive approaches such as Botox and dermal fillers, plastic surgeons say it really doesn’t make a difference what season you choose. These types of procedures don’t put you out of commission for important events. Dermal fillers do a great job providing extra  volume to lips, while minimizing the appearance of wrinkles and enhancing contours. And Botox can help smooth out wrinkles, crows feet and frown lines during any part of the year. And these types of minimalist procedures work immediately with zero downtime, so that may help people whose calendars are jam-packed year-round.

If you are considering something more in-depth, what time of year to head to your plastic surgeon may be important. Over the holidays, it may be easier to take time off from work to recover. But you need to be realistic about recovery times when you’re considering having a procedure done during a busy period like Christmas time. Though many surgeries only require a few days before you’re up and running again, it’s probably best to be conservative when you’re estimating your recuperation.

A Great Reason for a Staycation

Though you can recover from a breast augmentation or liposuction over a really nice, long weekend, it’s not unusual for many patients to have some soreness for a few weeks after these procedures. On the other hand, recovering from more invasive procedures, like tummy tucks, can take up to a month. So what may normally seem like effortless tasks could become challenging or even painful when you’re recovering from surgery. The last thing you want is to be restricted by a surgery that was meant to increase your enjoyment of any particular season.

For Dr. Mendieta and his Miami-based practice, he’s actually busy over Christmas.

“You’d think nobody would want to have surgery but it’s some of my busiest time,” Dr. Mendieta says. “so Christmas I guess they see me as Santa Claus. They see me coming down the chimney to recreate the breast or the body or the butt.”