While plastic surgery always has and always will be dominated by female patients, more and more men are taking advantage of the changes that it has to offer. This is a reflection of a multitude of factors coming together including refined surgical techniques, new products and a fashion trend towards more masculinizing appearances of the face and body.
For the face, I have seen a strong trend towards the desire for more defined and strong jawlines. Men want not only a more pronounced chin but a jawline that goes with it. This includes more angular and defined jaw angles and a more straight jawline that connects it with the chin. To create this effect, more men are having a three-piece jaw implant approach of one chin and two jaw angle implants…as opposed to just an isolated chin augmentation procedure.
Men are also seeking stronger more ethnic noses as well. Men do not want smaller, dainty or upturned noses. They prefer noses that have a high, but straight, dorsal line. Even a small hump on the bridge may be acceptable if it is just a slight bump. They want a more narrow nasal tip but not an over rotated one. A straight and not too long of a nose is more important than a perfectly straight dorsal line for some men. I have done a few noses recently where the men prefered to leave just a little bump on the nasal bridge…to look better but still like their original nose somewhat.
While Botox and injectable fillers will always play a very small role in male facial rejuvenation, other slightly more invasive procedures are of more interest. A little liposuction under the chinj or along the neckline can help clean up the jawline in relatively short order. Fat reducing skin tightening devices, like Exilis, are also popular when a guy sees some neck or jowl line skin laxity developing. While the results are more subtle not the magnitude of surgery, the lack of downtime is very appealing.
Body procedures in men are becoming increasingly dominated by chest reshaping efforts. At the smallest level, the protruding nipple is a problem for men of all ages and nipple reductions are a simple and quick reduction procedure done in the office. Gynecomastia problems are often much smaller today than in the past. ‘Puffy nipples’ problems have become more common than the larger breast mound gynecomastia issues from years ago. Men simply don’t like any protrusions from their chest other than a well-shaped pectoralis chest muscle profile. Using either small cannula liposuction to reshape the pectoral outlines or creating increased muscle size by the placement of pectoral implants, men are making changes to their chest that diet and exercise can not create.
Men are becoming more familiar and comfortable with what plastic surgery has to offer. But their desires and needs are somewhat different than that of women and it is important that they seek improvements through plastic surgeons who are in tune with these more contemporary male aesthetic procedures.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana