MEN + PLASTIC SURGERY
Despite most plastic surgeons still being male, most plastic surgical patients have historically been women. This is starting to change. There are signs that men are becoming more dissatisfied with their appearance due to social media and there is growing acceptance of these procedures. Other factors may be to improve appearance for their career, for their partner, or because they have the time and money. One article called procedures on men over 40 a “Daddy Do Over” (mimicking the Mommy Makeover many women have after children.)
TRENDS
Our Aesthetic Society showed in a recent study that there has been a 55% increase in plastic surgical procedures for men from 1997 – 2018. There is a lag in data, as the national plastic surgical societies do not provide more specific types of procedures for men when collecting data, so it does not gauge interest. Instead, this study looked at Google Trends to see what people are searching for.
TOP PROCEDURES
The top procedures for men for nonsurgical continue to be Botox and Filler. For surgery, it continues to be eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty), rhinoplasty (nose surgery), facelift, and liposuction. Estimates state 8-11% of all cosmetic surgical procedures are done on men. The ASPS report in 2020 listed the surgical procedures as
- Rhinoplasty
- Eyelid surgery
- Cheek implant
- Breast reduction
- Liposuction
- Tummy tuck
- Ear surgery
Most popular nonsurgical procedures for men:
- Botox
- Filler
- Microdermabrasion
- NOTE: The journal article below found a steep increase in interest in nonsurgical: Coolsculpt, microneedling, and the above.
JOURNAL ARTICLE
This article, “Changing Aesthetic Surgery Interest in Men: An 18 Year Analysis” was published in May 2023 in the Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Journal. They looked at 19 procedures with the addition of the word “men” or “male.” They looked at relative search interest, breaking that timeline into 9 year periods. They thought trends was a better tool to give real time knowledge to guide their practice on aesthetic trends. Findings?
- Since 2004 interest in all plastic surgery procedures for men except for breast reduction increased over time
- The five procedures with the largest search increase in interest:
- Jawline filler
- Botox
- Microneedling
- Coolsculpting
- Butt lift
The feedback was that men wanted to “feel better about themselves.” Other reasons were to appear less tired, to please their partner, or to improve their appearance for their career. There also seems to be a generational gap, with younger men being more driven to do procedures due to social media and an increase of acceptance of doing the procedures. There is also a thought that there is more disposable income and more flexibility (so can have time to heal).
MY THOUGHTS?
I operate on men. In my practice, the most common procedures I do in the office are Botox and filler. Meghan, my nurse, does microneedling on men to improve their skin texture. It works.
As for surgeries, I see my statistics echo the findings above: blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery, which doesn’t change the way you look but will help with those deep forehead wrinkles), fat grafting to the face (to add that facial volume back and improve skin quality with the stem cells), facelifting, gynecomastia (here they refer to it as breast reduction), tummy tucks (particularly with major weight loss patients), and liposuction (a great way to repattern your fat distribution).
There is no shame in plastic surgery. There are things you cannot fix on your own. With everyone living longer, being active longer, and working longer, I think there is goodness to having your body look how you feel.
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