Is the ‘Baywatch Body’ Back? Here’s What Plastic Surgeons Have to Say

Chalk it up to the popularity of the Pam & Tommy Hulu series or the promise of the summer months and the corresponding uniform of the swimsuit on the horizon, but New York plastic surgeon Norman Rowe, MD is noticing a very specific physique being requested by patients at his practice—one that he refers to as the “Baywatch Body.”

“The ‘Baywatch Body’ is a sculpted abdomen, arms and thighs with large breasts or chiseled pecs for men,” he explains. “It’s basically utilizing liposuction for a small waist, sculpted abdomen and thighs, plus a breast lift/augmentation.”

While Dr. Rowe says the transition from winter to spring typically sees an influx of patients getting “beach-body ready,” this year, it’s slightly different: “I have noticed that, due to the pandemic and social isolation, people have been coming in earlier for procedures to get rid of their pandemic pounds. I’ve also noticed that younger and younger patients are coming in to begin their treatments at an earlier age to prevent irreversible aging of their face and body.”

Over on the opposite coast—ironically, somewhere close to the coordinates of where the ‘Baywatch Body’ was born—Newport Beach, CA plastic surgeon Sanjay Grover, MD has most certainly seen patients who are wanting to come out and ‘reveal’ more of themselves after a few years of hiding out due to COVID. 

“I think we may have a skewed perspective in Southern California or in South Beach,” he says. “Although, over the past five-to-ten years, we are seeing many women coming out for mini breast augmentations, when in the past, they would never have considered it. With current techniques and implants, we can deliver a very natural result.”

“On the other hand, we are still having many women come in that are seeking a full, voluptuous figure.”

Likewise, Encino, CA plastic surgeon George Sanders, MD says he’s seen the trend turning away from large breast implants, but he has seen a boom in buttock enlargement. (The latest Aesthetic Society statistics stand by the interest in butt augmentation as well, reporting a 37-percent uptick in the procedure in 2021 when compared to 2020 numbers; those same stats point to body procedures seeing an increase more than any other area, led by jumps in liposuction procedures and abdominoplasties.)

“Despite the obvious trend towards women getting breast implants removed, I haven’t seen a slowdown in women getting new implants or having implants replaced,” Nashville plastic surgeon Daniel Hatef, MD adds. “If anything, I am busier than ever placing breast implants. There has definitely been a rise in interest in noninvasive body-contouring devices, and I think that this has to do with the companies marketing more aggressively to patients, as well as improvements in the technology to the point where people are seeing results.”

As for men, Dr. Sanders says he is not necessarily seeing a ton of requests for a markedly defined chest. “Men are asking for a more conservative look with reduction of fat, but a more-natural appearance than the highly sculpted and muscled looks of the past.”

And, while Reno, NV plastic surgeon Tiffany D. McCormack, MD hasn’t had any requests for this, personally, she does classify it as an “interesting phenomenon.”

“I think, in general, women are wanting smaller and more natural implants—but that isn’t true 100-percent of the time. And it does seem like men may be looking for more ab etching; I don’t see that because I don’t do it, but it makes sense.”

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