Video calls drive 'Zoom boom' in cosmetic surgery

It's been called the "Zoom Boom" - a rise in the number of people going under the knife after spending more time looking at themselves on video calls.

Some plastic surgeons in the North West are reporting a 30% increase in bookings year on year since the pandemic started.

And as many people continue working from home, procedures like face and neck lifts are becoming more popular as patients can heal at home without others knowing.

Deby Allison-Thomas from Cheshire owns a bathroom design business and spends her days surrounded by mirrors and her own reflection.

Deby said: "So you look in one mirror and you think you look amazing, then you turn and you see an angle you've not seen for a while if your hair is back and it can be quite a shock sometimes... so it makes me very aware of how I look all the time."

The mother-of-three says spending hours consulting with clients over Zoom during lockdown made the her even more self critical.

She said: "You have to have your camera angled right and if you're looking down it makes you look like you've got double chins. It's not very forgiving with your wrinkles." 

The 56-year-old's become a big fan of botox and is also very open about the procedures she's had  including a mini facelift and breast surgery.

She added: "It makes you feel absolutely amazing, it gives you loads of confidence back, you feel quite youthful and bursting with energy because you've got a new lease of life with this surgery. 

"I feel if I didn't have it I couldn't work, I couldn't be in my role because of my age.

"Everybody says I look 20 years younger than I am so it's beneficial. I want to keep working. I never want to retire so I need to keep up appearances."

Deby is not alone. Demand for cosmetic surgery has shot up since lockdown ended with a boom in bookings for surgical and non surgical treatments.

Bookings at the Reflect Clinic which has clinics across the North West have risen by 30 % year on year since the start of the pandemic.

"Lockdown belly" or the "Quarantine Fifteen" means lots of customers want liposuction or tummy tucks and thanks to Virtual Reality they can try before they buy.

Surgeon Gerard Lambe uses VR to simulate three dimensional plastic surgery.

Patients upload ‘selfie’ photographs to a secure e-health app linked to the clinic.

He then uses the video conferencing tech to demonstrate and adapt detailed and accurate ‘before and after’ surgery imagery.

The tech can simulate made-to-measure breast augmentations using different implant sizes and shapes, as well as facial procedures, such as Botox and eye-lifts.

Gerard Lambe , who is also a spokesperson for industry body The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, thinks the rise in plastic surgery is down to a number of factors.

He said: "People have been at home thinking and  often you find people who come for plastic surgery have been researching it for a number of years.

"They've also thought about budget - they've not been able to go away on holiday and they think 'well I've got the money now.'

"The other thing is they've got the time to recover - they're working from home and don't have to take time off."

Angela Wilkinson is a mum of two and a personal trainer from Didsbury, Manchester. She's visiting the clinic for a consultation to get her breast implants replaced. 

Angela said: "I had a lot more time to think during lockdown especially about my health and I was just worried about my implants and I thought it was time I got them changed."

Angela's also had a number of non surgical treatments. She added: "I think the Zoom sessions were making you aware of how you looked.

"I just wanted a bit of something to iron out the wrinkles and a few of the lines on the top lip and that was my motivation really- just to look a bit better."

Deby says plastic surgery is part of her life for the foreseeable future and is already planning her next procedure.