Men Are Having More Plastic Surgery

Women still make up the majority of plastic surgery patients in larger cities, especially on the West Coast. It's widely known that the increase in men and women patients in part due to society's increasing orientation toward a youthful, slimmer appearance. Men may also seek the operation if they have chests that protrude like female breasts.

But there are other reasons; including competition in the job market. According to MSNBC.com, some job seekers may feel they're better off with a younger appearance. In a marriage, one partner may appear to age more quickly and want to correct that difference with plastic surgery. After a divorce, one may want a face lift before reentering the dating world.

Facial surgery is becoming more of a effort to rid one's face of skin folds than wrinkles. A material called collagen, usually made of a cowhide extract, is injected into the fold. Facial folds are usually found at the corners of the mouth, under the nose or between the eyes. It's a substitute for surgery.

In smaller doses, the collagen injections must be repeated on an annual basis. The only known side effect from collagen is skin sensitivity. Collagen can be used in cases where the folds of skin aren't too severe. For those severe cases, actual surgery is needed to make changes.

Facelifts have changed over the years. In the original operation, the skin was tightened and redraped over the face. Now it's much more complex. Contouring is the technique plastic surgeons are using today in facelifts. A facelift operation can take three hours or longer.

Suctioning may also be combined with face lifts. The suction method can rid the face of heavy jowls and deposits of fat in the neck. In the neck, suctioning is especially efficient.

Contrary to popular perception, nose reconstructions aren't always requested for looks. Actually, the most common nose changes are made because of malignant tumors. Computers are now beginning to assist plastic surgeons in rebuilding faces after head injuries. Artificial implants using computer designs can aid plastic surgeons in cranial facial surgery.

Such advanced microsurgery is out of the realm of most small offices, but the medical advances made in the field eventually have become part of plastic surgery in general. That includes in the area of breast reconstructions. Such operations were once rare and limited, but now, breasts can nearly always be rebuilt.

And regarding face lifts, the scars left from a facelift are minimal at first, but those changes over time. Each time you repeat a face lift, the scars become more and more visual," he said. Hair often hides those scars at first, but hair doesn't grow immediately over the scars, and that area becomes larger as the face lifts become more frequent.

Most last five to 10 years before the effects begin to fade. Plastic surgery is not as secretive for many patients as it once was. It's also becoming more attractive to men. especially in urban areas people now that you just wouldn't have seen years ago," he said. He expects the ratio of men to women to steadily increase as society relaxes its stereotypes.