CARY, N.C. — One plastic surgeon in North Carolina says he has seen a huge increase in procedures during the pandemic.

Pam Mullaney says for the last 11 years she has devoted her time to her boutique shop in Raleigh called Dress.

“For the first 7 or 8 years it was probably working 60 hours a week,” Mullaney says. “It was a work of love, sweat, and tears.”

She spent so much time in her boutique that she didn’t really do much for herself.

“As far as doing something to help me through the aging process, it had been a long time,” Mullaney says.

Her shop was closed for a few months last year due to restrictions from COVID-19, and that’s when she decided it was finally time for her.

“A lot of people were home more so they had thought about getting something done,” Mullaney says.

Mullaney met with Dr. Brian Coan, who is the founder of Care Plastic Surgery in Cary. Coan is a board-certified plastic surgeon and member of the distinguished Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

“We are definitely seeing an increase in a lot of the facial aesthetics,” Coan says. “People who are on business calls and doing a lot of Zoom-type meetings, they see themselves. We are seeing our own face right in front of us more often than we typically do.”

Coan says in the past, patients would normally have to take off work to recover, but now that’s not always the case.

“The recovery is pretty straightforward,” Coan says. “It’s definitely something that you can do while at home and working from home very easily.”

Mullaney didn’t want to say exactly what she had done, but says she is happy with the result.

“I think that the pandemic just gave us an opportunity to take care of some things that maybe in the busy part of life, we wouldn’t take time out to do,” Mullaney says.

Coan recommends anyone who is considering a procedure to search for a board-certified physician.