Yes, we are a vain nation

Reading Dr. Ridge’s latest entry in the "Aging & Caregiving" blog on Yahoo! Health, many might take offense at being called vain. However, the article in the NYTimes, Wrinkle Rivals Go to War, validates this claim. According to the statistics in the article, there are an estimated 1 million Americans using injection to hide their wrinkles. In two years, from 2003 to 2005, sales of cosmetic fillers were estimated to have gone from $100M to about $250M --- and these numbers exclude sales of Botox (which is not considered a filler, but a muscle relaxer) which were $360M.

Now the two major brand name fillers, Restylane and Juvederm, are basically duking it out in the marketing field. They are considered the new marketing rivals – the new "Coke vs. Pepsi", or "Mac vs. PC." The interesting point is--- there is an opportunity for this rivalry because there is a huge public demand for cosmetic fillers & injections. The article was very accurate is its assessment of the American culture:

In a youth-dominated, celebrity-obsessed culture, aggressive marketing for medical products that can temporarily or even permanently augment the skin is hardly a surprise.