CHICAGO -- More Americans are getting nipped and tucked these days. Plastic surgery is on the rise, with Americans spending more than $12 billion on cosmetic procedures last year, NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reported.

Cosmetic plastic surgery was up 7 percent in 2007, with some 12 million procedures performed in the U.S., according to statistics released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. That's more than double the number done in 2000.

"Plastic surgery has gone mainstream," said Dr. Richrad A. D'Amico, with ASPS.

Breast augmentation is still the most common -- almost 350,000 were performed last year. But the biggest increase was in minimally invasive procedures like Botox injections, which were up 13 percent from 2006.

The use of hyaluronic wrinkle fillers like Restylane and Juvederm was up a whopping 35 percent.

Dr. Bruce Shack, a professor and the chairman, of the department of plastic surgery at Vanderbilt Medical Center, said much of the increase comes from younger people.

"Younger patients are realizing they can start this maintenance process at a much earlier stage in their life, and so the overall increase for the use of these adds up to a major increase of the fillers," Shack said.

The patient profile is also changing. White women still make up the majority of those who get plastic surgery, but almost one quarter of the procedures were performed on other ethnicities.

The statistics show the search for perfection is growing, even though surgery is not always perfect.

"Many people think that cosmetic plastic surgery is no big deal, like going to the beauty shop to get your hair done. But cosmetic plastic surgery is a real operation and carries with it certain risks," Shack said.

But despite the risks and costs associated with going under the knife, it looks like more and more Americans are willing to pay the price.

Reconstructive plastic surgery procedures like tumor removal or scar revision were down last year. The Society of Plastic Surgeons said that may be because insurance companies were denying claims as medically unnecessary.

On The Net:

Plastic Surgery Statistics From ASPS