The number of people willing to consider plastic surgery to make themselves look more beautiful has doubled to nearly half of all women and a quarter of men.
Driven by the desire to look youthful, feel confident and find love, millions of Britons admit that they would consider plastic surgery, once a marginal medical procedure indulged in only by the rich. Many others would encourage their partners to undergo surgical procedures.
A study of more than 2,000 people showed more than half of respondents dissatisfied with their partners' appearance and nearly three out of four thinking looking good would help their careers. Fifty-six per cent of respondents said they dreamed of looking 10 years younger.
The research, carried out by YouGov for the Body Beautiful Show - a cosmetic surgery showcase at London's Olympia today - highlighted the fact that people think looking good will help them to make friends.
'It can transform people's lives,' said Dr Lawrence Kirwan, a plastic surgeon. 'It makes them feel better about their self-image and people react to them in a different way - they go out of their way to get to know them.' He added that television shows such as Extreme Makeover had showed the public what was possible.
The new research comes after leading cosmetic surgery clinics came under fire for using high-pressure sales techniques. The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons criticised two of the largest providers - Transform Medical Group and Bupa - for using loyalty cards that encouraged multiple procedures and paying sales representatives a commission on the number of people they sign up.
Mark Brewster, organiser of the Body Beautiful Show, said he was amazed at how badly informed people were when they chose to go for surgery. 'Sixty- two per cent of people having surgery only go to one practitioner and have just one pre-treatment consultation,' he said.
Brewster said that the cost of surgical treatments in Britain ranged from £3,500 to £12,000 and there had been a proliferation in new techniques. Fresh procedures on show at Olympia will include breast auto-augmentation, which uses the woman's own breast tissue, rather than implants, to change the shape and enhance the breasts.
There will also be information on liposelection, a fat removal technique that only targets fat cells and not the surrounding tissue, so reducing any bruising.
