The Zoom Boom of 2020

Zoom meetings and video calls have become standardized as the primary forms of communication in 2020 due to COVID-19. That’s how most people now conduct business or socialize with others. One may have assumed a pandemic would lead to several global changes, but most people couldn’t have foreseen one of the strange side-effects of Zoom meetings during the pandemic: a desire for plastic surgery.

In recent months, there has been a national uptick in the desire for plastic surgery fueled by two factors. First, stay-at-home norms under the pandemic provide a sufficient recovery period for patients undergoing plastic surgery. Second, HD video call and zoom meetings make it hard to avoid certain facial flaws and features, perhaps such as a double chin, irregular skin surface, or deep wrinkles.

In this article, New York-based board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. David Rapaport shares insight into why and how the “Zoom Boom” has increased demands for plastic surgery.

What is the “Zoom Effect”?

The “Zoom Effect” is the recent upsurge in demand for cosmetic procedures during the pandemic. The primary and direct reason for this upsurge is that people are now constantly seeing their own and other’s faces on the screen, making them particularly conscious of possible facial anomalies, irregularities, or asymmetries.

Are there any other possible reasons for the sudden upsurge in cosmetic treatments?

Though this trend is being termed the “zoom effect,” the reasons for people electing cosmetic surgeries during the pandemic go far beyond that scope. Some of the other reasons patients might desire cosmetic surgeries at this precarious time:

1. Since patients can now stay at home, the recovery period following a procedure doesn’t lead to a discernible social downtime.
2. People are now wearing masks in public, allowing them to conceal treatments on the lower face, such as injectable lip fillers and treatments that tighten facial skin around the jaws.
3. The COVID-19 pandemic has made people reckon with what’s truly important in their lives. They’ve learned to value each day, prompting them to truly pursue things that will make them happy.
4. People haven’t been spending much on travel, clothing, or dining and thus have the discretionary income they can spend on cosmetic procedures.

Which treatments have seen a sudden upsurge in recent months?  

The two most obvious treatments attributed to the “Zoom Effect” are facial injectables and Morpheus8, i.e., treatments that enhance facial appearance. Facial injectables, like BOTOX, Dysport, Radiesse, etc., smoothen your facial wrinkles, add volume to your face, and provide other such benefits. Morpheus8 is a minimally-invasive treatment that tightens facial skin.

However, these recent months have also seen an unexpected rise in the demand for body contouring procedures, like CoolSculpting and liposuction. Liposuction is popular amongst people who want to get rid of stubborn fat from targeted regions. CoolSculpting also facilitates the removal of targeted fat cells while also contouring your body.