1.1 Introduction and market definition

The market of medicine and cosmetic surgery includes several distinct segments:

Plastic surgery the technique of reshaping the body through surgical procedures to correct a morphological abnormality or the external appearance of the patient's body;
Aesthetic medicine which represents all non-surgical advice, care and treatment designed to improve a patient's aesthetic appearance;
Cosmetic products situated halfway between cosmetics and medicines, which contain active ingredients that allow a specific dermatological treatment (wrinkles, dark circles under the eyes, etc.).

Therefore, cosmetic surgery only concerns operations on patients' bodies, such as breast surgery, the most popular procedure. Aesthetic medicine, on the other hand, can be practiced by general practitioners or specialists. The vast majority of cosmetic medicine procedures involves injections under the skin, for example, to reduce wrinkles. Cosmeceuticals are most often used to correct skin aging, although their effectiveness is yet to be proven.

The global cosmetic surgery and medicine market is growing in full swing. This growth is driven in particular by the dynamism of the Asian regions, which are currently the main focus of global demand. However, the market is still largely dominated by the United States and Brazil. For these countries, major players include Allergan plc, Alma Lasers, Anika Therapeutics, Inc. e Merz Aesthetics Inc.

Portugal, for its part, is an interesting market to study, because although there is real domestic demand, several tension points are also evident.

1.2 The world market

As the market can be defined in many different ways, depending on which segments we decide to include or not, the size of the overall market varies greatly depending on the sources used. For this study, we will focus on plastic surgery and non-invasive aesthetic medicine (***). Thus, in the market sizes ...

1.3 The Portuguese market of aesthetic medicine

There are very few official statistics on aesthetic medicine in Portugal. However, we can rely on other countries to make estimates about the Portuguese market. In fact, the main source of statistics on aesthetic medicine is ISAPS(***), it turns out that there are approximately ** plastic surgeons per million inhabitants in ...

2.1 Typology of demand

Using the distribution of Italian aesthetic procedures given by ISAPS, we can make estimates for Portugal:

Breakdown of aesthetic medicine procedures Estimate for Portugal, ****, % Source: ****

We can see that non-surgical procedures are in the majority, certainly because they are less expensive and less invasive. Let us now look at the distribution ...

2.2 Medical tourism

Medical tourism is an increasingly common practice in the world of cosmetic surgery. According to a study conducted by Patients Beyond Borders, medical tourism increased by ** to **% in ****. This phenomenon is mainly related to the difference in prices between countries. In addition, the recognized quality of Brazilian aesthetic medicine and the ...

3.1 Production of plastic surgery and aesthetic medicine equipment

The production of equipment for aesthetic purposes includes the manufacture of breast prostheses, injectable products, equipment and finally cosmeceuticals. As the aesthetic market requires high entry costs and advanced technology, most manufacturers are in the production of one of these segments.

As the major players in the market are international groups, ...

3.2 Multi-channel distribution and increased autonomy of final consumers

Clients seeking cosmetic medical treatment may go to hospitals or other practices in the event that the treatment requires professional intervention (***). However, not all treatments fall into this category. There are more and more processes that customers can do independently, not to mention the entire cosmeceutical segment that customers find directly ...

4.1 Prices

Non-surgical procedures:

Source: ****

Surgical procedures:

5.1 Regulation

Plastic surgery is governed by the laws relating to the Medical Order.

However, the president of the Sociedade Portugesa de Cirurgia Plástica, Reconstrutiva e Estética (***) acknowledges in an interview that many surgeons act without having a degree in aesthetic surgery. This is due to the existence of many short ...