The growing number of Asian-Americans going under the knife has generated concern among Asians about whether plastic surgery is erasing Asian ethnic features and creating a ‘Westernized’ look in its place. In America, the concern is focused on Asian-Americans undergoing surgeries with results that follow a more typically Caucasian standard of beauty, and thereby possibly losing their unique ethnic identities as Asians.

In Asia, there has also been tremendous growth in the plastic surgery industry, with Japan, Thailand and China acting as hotspots for licensed and illegally-performed procedures. Up until 2001, China had a ban on plastic surgery, hoping to preserve traditional, non-Western looks and styles. Plastic surgery is currently a 2.4 billion (USD) industry in China, with about one million procedures done a year. In Japan, the industry is even larger, with $18.7 billion dollars spent a year.

The most popular procedures requested by Asian patients include a double eyelid surgery where a crease is created in patients born with a single eyelid, liposuction, breast augmentation, and rhinoplasty (nose reshaping).

In America, the number of Asians opting for cosmetic surgery has skyrocketed, with ASPS reporting a 33% increase among Asian Americans from 2005 to 2006, from 437,000 Asian patients having surgery in 2005 to over 610,000 in 2006. Furthermore, the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery shows a 35% rise among Asians in non-invasive procedures such as BOTOX between 2005 to 2006.

According to the ASPS, the three most commonly requested surgical procedures among Asian-Americans in 2006 were nose reshaping, breast augmentation and eyelid surgery. The top five requested surgical procedures overall in 2006 were breast augmentation, nose reshaping, liposuction, eyelid surgery and tummy tucks.