Making the Man Part I: How Cosmetic Surgery is Different for Men v. Women
It’s a known fact: men do go under the knife, they just don’t always admit it. Even Vice President, Joe Biden has been suspected to have undergone a hair transplant and a little Botox. While some public figures try to keep their procedures a secret, ask any plastic surgeon and they will tell you the truth.
While I have performed surgery on many male patients, cosmetic procedures for men and women are performed differently. There aren’t any how-to books written on what to do differently. In my practice, it has just evolved.
What are the differences? First, let’s talk about the facelift.
Incisions around the face must be completely concealed in a man, but there is rarely enough hair to hide them, because we typically wear our hair short.
Men also have strong ligaments, and most facelift surgeons cut them. In my view, that’s like cutting the material on a suit and stretching the material tight, instead of just taking it in at the seams, waist and other convenient places where the tailoring can be concealed. Once you cut into the fabric, you interfere with the natural fit that nature created. Also, anything cut can be stretched in any direction—including the wrong one…think Mickey Rourke. If someone is pulled too tight, it is obvious…think Burt Reynolds.
Now, let’s talk about the Eyes.
The eyes can’t just be addressed with a little nip here, and a little tuck there. The tendon that holds the eyelid in place often weakens with time and needs to be addressed, or you get funny droops. Think Kenny Rogers.
If a brow is lifted too high, the face looks more female. Think Bruce Jenner, Barry Manilow.
Last on my list is, Botox®.
Too much Botox makes you look like you had a stroke. The brows are harder to treat in men and require more Botox. More Botox can = drooping of the brows. Think John Kerry around the time of his hearings on Syria. I saw him on television and it was immediately obvious. It was avoidable. And, also, correctable.
While I have no proof that any of these people had work done other than before and after photos that I’ve seen, I do know the secret to a subtle result most men, and women, will be happy with. Take a look at some of our male plastic surgery results and see for yourself what can be achieved.
*The photographs shown in this article above depict public figures. The use of these images is to illustrate the common use of plastic surgery. The author’s views in this article are entirely his own and may not reflect the views of the source of these images.
