Visualizing the growth in cosmetic surgery

Would you believe that nearly 13M people had a cosmetic procedure last year? Thanks to a dataset just released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons that we found on the Guardian Datablog, we have visualized the change in cosmetic procedures from 2008 to 2009. Take a look at the viz below to learn more!

With the popularity of new non-invasive cosmetic treatments like Botox and microdermabrasions, traditional cosmetic surgery is being driven out of popularity. As you can see from the view to the top right, the number of minimally invasive treatments has risen while surgeries have fallen. Not too surprising in the face of a major recession, as surgeries are generally much more expensive.

Highlighted mark labels: The labels for this visualization, all together, are a little hard to read. By activating them only when a user has highlighted the value, the viz is simplified but still analytically valuable.