Gym memberships are down
Women are opting for cosmetic surgery rather than gym memberships in the New Year, figures have revealed.
With the financial downturn worsening across Britain, women in the North-West are saving up for a quick-fix solution in a bid to avoid spread-out spending throughout 2009.
Marie Jenkins, patient coordinator at the Birkdale Cosmetic Surgery Clinic, said: “People are more inclined to have treatment done now as a way of boosting their own ‘feel good factor’ during the long wet winter months.
“The gym seems to be losing ground as the first of many cost cutting exercisesâ€.
While half of plastic surgeons in Britain reported a decrease in revenue last year, it seems that at the turn of a recession, women are looking for ways to improve their self-image and confidence while they can just about still afford it.
Procedures such as liposuction, which removes fat or cellulite from hard-to-shift areas such as thighs and under-arms, are popular because they result in fewer visits to the gym during the cold winter months.
Yet prices average between £1,500 and £5,000 in Britain for liposuction, which is much more costly than an annual gym membership. Tummy tucks remove excess skin and fat from the stomach area, and cost anything from £3,800 to £5,200.
Money saving expert, Martin Lewis, suggests that annual gym memberships normally cost around £500, but that 20% of people who join gyms in January have stopped going by June, and 20% more have stopped attending by December.
This supports the idea that many women would prefer to fork out lump-sums for cosmetic procedures in the New Year, as they estimate that their gym visits will gradually decrease as the months pass.
For those simply wanting to loose weight, Martin Lewis advises opting for free-of-charge exercise rather than paying for gym memberships or cosmetic surgery, such as running, cycling and yoga at home.
However, the number of consultations for facial and dentistry treatments has also increased by 28% at the Birkdale Clinic in Rotherham, which is the first Independent Sector Treatment Centre under the National Health Service.
Facelifts, which hide or diminish the effects of aging, are even more costly than liposuction; ranging between £4,200 and £5,800 in the UK.
Some women may be discouraged from undergoing cosmetic surgery due to increased attention on celebrity figures, whose procedures have sometimes had unsatisfactory results. Breast implants and lip plumping are arguably the least successful procedures, and the results are often the most noticeable.
For this reason, Marie Jenkins added: “We always warn potential patients against jeopardising their health in the rush to look fabulous.
“Health and beauty should always go hand in handâ€.
By Kay Taylor