Mankind’s quest for beauty and physical self-improvement, one of the primary factors that has shaped the formation of culture and society over the centuries, shows no signs of stopping even in the wake of a global recession. Based on the survey conducted by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, or ASAPS, in the United States, about 10 million cosmetic surgery procedures were performed in the year 2008. An impressive number at first glance, but if you compare it to 2007, the latest figure represents a 12 percent decrease in the number of Americans who went under the knife last year. The drop isn’t surprising considering the state of the economy, and in fact, appears to demonstrate how resilient cosmetic surgery is as a luxury that modern society simply refuses to do without.

Of the 2008 total, it may interest you to note that about 9.2 million of those procedures, or an astounding 92 percent, were performed on women, with men making up a scant 8 percent of cosmetic surgeries by comparison. Physical enhancement, it seems, remains largely dominated by the female gender, as men appear far less likely to put too much stock in their looks.

Irrespective of gender, the top 5 cosmetic surgical procedures that were undergone in 2008 were, in no particular order, breast augmentation, liposuction, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty and abdominoplasty. This may be due in part to these operations being relatively common, which results in greater overall patient confidence in anticipated results, as well as the number of surgeons available who have trained and obtained sufficient experience and skill to perform them without a hitch. If we were to remove the women from these statistics, the list would remain mostly unaltered, except that breast augmentation would be replaced with reduction, to treat enlarged male breasts from genetics or weight gain, and hair transplantation would knock abdominoplasty out of the list. Male pattern baldness being a perennial problem of men who want to retain a youthful look, it looks like they’ve resorted to going under the knife instead of opting for the hideous comb-over or an unsightly toupee.

As for non-surgical cosmetic procedures, the top 5 in 2008 were Botox injections, laser hair removal, facial hyaluronic acid fillers, chemical peels and laser skin resurfacing. Once again, Botox reigns supreme, proof positive that temporary paralysis of one’s facial muscles with the distilled form of a lethal toxin isn’t quite as terrifying as it sounds, and worth the risks to achieve a wrinkle-free visage.

Of the 10 million procedures undertaken in the previous year, racial and ethnic minorities accounted for about 20 percent. Those of Asian American ethnicity are increasingly having eyelid surgery performed on them, not just for aesthetic reasons, but also to alleviate problems associated with small eyes and thin or nonexistent eyelids, such as difficulty with sight.

Breakthroughs in sophistication and safety of cosmetic surgery procedures has generated proportionate increases in patient confidence, as well as trust by the general population. Moroever, cosmetic surgery is becoming less a subject of embarrassment, and is being received with greater acceptance by modern society. ASAPS surveys showed that about 62% of women and 51% of men now approve of cosmetic surgery, and moreover, 71% of the surveyed group have conveyed that they would not feel ashamed of having cosmetic surgery today.

All of these statistics represent a substantial leap from just ten years ago, when the number of procedures performed in a year was less than half of what it is today, and attitudes about cosmetic surgery were dismissive, even condescending, towards those who felt the need to resort to artificial means to alter their appearance.