Among the markets that are taking financial hits due to the current US economic wobble/slowdown/meltdown (choose one to suit your personal level of anxiety), apparently the cosmetic surgery industry is facing a nip and tuck of its own. Along with cutbacks in spending on such critical areas as interior design and sports cars, America's newly monied are opting for a reduction in reductions while the bad times last.

While official figures aren't kept on a month-to-month basis, anecdotal evidence among practitioners and customers alike collected recently by journalists suggests that the desire to achieve the perfect manufactured body through easy access to retail plastic surgery has suffered a noticable decline in recent months. This downturn reverses some of the white-hot growth rates the sector had been experiencing, just as many doctors had made the investment to add cosmetic treatments to their menu of services. According to reports, many potential patients are opting for botox and other temporary non-invasive treatments over under-the-knife procedures like liposuction, breast augmentation and facelifts.

The implications for this shift are manifold. American, and global, aesthetics for beauty have been changing for some time, and have recently taken a steep turn toward artificial over natural, with media coverage of cosmetic surgery acting as an echo chamber, encouraging less wealthy, younger consumers to slice their way to this new definition of beauty. For the digital set, we even suspect there has been a sort of aesthetic merger with the look, feel and ease of creating virtual selves--making themselves into personalized avatars online and off. Harder times may mean this crowd sticks more to shaping second lives than reshaping real ones. Secondarily, a turn to other, less expensive means of reshaping and resurfacing may be on the cards as well. The market for cheaper chemical peels, microdermabrasion, cosmeceuticals, and injectable treatments will certainly benefit. Also, unregulated, black- and grey-market products will probably benefit as well, many trafficked in from Asia.

Lastly, as Slate points out, doctors may have to seek other forms of business, perhaps returning attention and investment to some of the basic services that lost attention as these new revenue streams in casual cosmetic services emerged. The loss of qualified doctors and other medical professionals to less critical but more profitable areas of treatment has undoubtedly had an impact on availability of services (it's doubtful that many new casual cosmetic treatment services subsidized core medical practices in any significant way). This bad news for dealers of sports cars and interior designers may be good news not only for drug stores but for sick patients as well. (Image: kowitz/Flicr)

Not surprisingly, marketing behemoths Nike and Apple just announced they are taking their collaboration, begun with the Nike + iPod system, to a new level. Starting this summer, the Nike + iPod system, centered around the iPod nano, will be usable not just with specialized Nike running shoes, but with treadmills, elliptical trainers, bikes and stairclimbers from companies such as Technogym, Precor, Star Trac and Life Fitness. Among the first clubs to use the systems will be 24 Fitness and Virgin Active chains. Users of the system will be able to configure and manage workouts from home, and then jack in to their favorite gym equipment to execute their exercise regimen of choice.

Both companies are creators of ecosystems in their respective markets (Nike with everything sports- and fitness-related and Apple with the iPod, iPhone and Mac ecosystems) and are now expanding and blending these ecosystems to encompass devices they don't make, specifically gym equipment that features prominently in most health clubs and fitness facilities. They are doing two important things in the process -- appealing to the younger, tech-savvy demographic that most gyms need to keep their business growing, creating a sticky application along the way, and Nike and Apple are also in a sense establishing a "fitness OS" that standardizes the training experience somewhat for a broad range of users. With limited screen space and input interfaces for much customization, typical gym equipment lacks the interactive features that can bind a user to the device. Allowing feedback and comparison of workouts provides an experience many Gen Y have come to expect from other devices they interact with on a daily basis.

Expect to see companies Nike, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, and Philips for example push to establish more turf in the health and fitness market as more health-minded young consumers look to apply technology to make their workouts more enjoyable, efficient and convenient, and also to take advantage of the needs of aging populations seeking to monitor and maintain their own health as they grow older. 

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