The increased use of Zoom and other video conferencing software has led to Britons feeling more self-conscious about how they look and significantly decreased their self-esteem as a result, according to a new report by the team here at Cosmetic Surgery Solicitors.

The nationwide survey, which had 1,149 responses, asked the UK population a series of questions about their use of video software throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.

The study found that 69% of respondents have generally felt either quite aware or extremely aware of their own appearance as a result of an increased use of video technology.

When asked how happy they generally felt about their appearance since the start of the pandemic, 46.6% reported feeling unhappy with their appearance, compared to only 21% who have felt happy with how they look.

In addition, while the majority of respondents (54.6%) reported no change in their self-esteem since the pandemic began, 31.9% stated that their self esteem had decreased, with 9.8% reporting a ‘significant’ decrease. Only 13.6% noted an increase in their self esteem since the start of lockdown.

What’s more, 16.7% of respondents said that their desire for cosmetic surgery had also increased since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, with dental work (43.2%), botox or filler procedures (36.1%), and breast surgery (22.8%) being the most in-demand procedures.

The survey also highlighted how the pandemic and video technology has impacted age groups in different ways.

The 21-25 age group were found to be most conscious of their own appearance on video technology, with 80.9% stating they felt either quite aware or extremely aware of their appearance.

Similarly, this age group was most likely (21.3%) to feel ‘very unhappy’ with the way they look.

Furthermore, the 21-25 age group reported the biggest decrease in satisfaction with regards to how their body looks since the start of the pandemic. Before the pandemic, 48.4% stated they were either unhappy, very unhappy or extremely unhappy with their body, which had risen to 72% today.

However, the impact of the pandemic and video technology was more likely to have a stronger impact on self esteem levels of the 18-20 to age group. 62% of this age group stated their self esteem had dropped either slightly or significantly, compared to 46.2% of 21-25-year-olds.

In addition, 31% of 18-20-year-olds reported a slightly or significantly increased desire for cosmetic surgery, compared to 23.7% of 21-25-year-olds.

The full results can be found below: