While men still make up a relatively small minority of patients having plastic surgery and office-based cosmetic procedures (< 20%), those numbers have been steadily increasing since 2000. The top male cosmetic procedures in my experience include liposuction, rhinoplasty, gynecomastia reduction, and blepharoplasty.
It is no surprise that liposuction remains the top procedure for men given the large potential for fat collections in any one individual and that it can be done in both yong and old alike. Unlike women, however, most male liposuction is relegated to the abdomen, flank, and neck areas. Even in relatively lean individuals, flank fat collections are common as one ages. Today’s liposuction techniques have been refined to include etching procedures for those leaner males who want an easy way to the ‘six-pack’ look.
Male rhinoplasty has been a mainstay for many years and remains a popular procedure for the teenage and young adult male. It is far less commonly performed in the older male over 40 who have come to accept their nose, no matter how disproportionate it is to other facial features, and would feel very ‘abnormal’ if it were changed at this point in their life. Rhinoplasty may frequently be performed with chin augmentation if it will improve their facial profile over a rhinoplasty alone.
Gynecomastia reduction is, in my opinion, the one male plastic surgery procedure that is on the rise. Whether it be a small protrusion of the nipple in a teenager, to a more traditional gynecomastia in adolescents, to a droopy and deflated appearance in the middle-aged male, improvement in the mae chest is now quite common.Liposuction, nipple lifting and reduction, and pectoral implants are potential methods for male chest enhancement. Refined liposuction techniques, known as etching, provides better definition to the pectoral outlines which can be combined with any of the other chest contouring procedures.
Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) in the male remains a common procedure. Most men wait until their eyelid problems are more severe than many women as some aging around the eyes is more accepted in men. There still remains the senior male who only has his upper eyelids done due to visual field obstruction.
Men increasingly are joining the Botox and injectable filler therapies ranks as well as having other traditional (e.g., facelift) and more exotic forms (e.g., pectoral or calf implants) of plastic surgery.
Dr Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana