We live in a culture where youth and beauty are prized – even for men.
“Over the last three to five years, there’s been a huge boom in men’s aesthetic surgery,” Dr. Deepu Chundru a Hyderabad-based plastic surgeon and MD theNewyou Centre for Cosmetic Surgery in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, says “Our practice has seven websites, one exclusively for men, and many of our patients now are male. It’s a very big misconception that all patients are women.”
National trends in India also agree to those in America. According to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), the number of cosmetic procedures for men has increased by more than 106% between 1997 and 2012.
Dr. Deepu says that men want plastic surgery for two main reasons:
To look good and stay competitive in the job market. “Men get surgery as a key tool to help them succeed,” he explains. “In a marketplace where looking fit, younger, and more masculine is imperative, the better you look, the better your chances of ascending the corporate ladder.”
Dr Deepu clearly outlines four “types” of men that he says typically come in for surgery and the best procedures for them.
The first type is the “male model,” who he says wants jawline augmentation, “hi-def liposuction” to show off his abs, pectoral implants, and gluteal implants. “This guy wants a sharper jawline, and nice abs – really ripped and very defined abs,” Dr. Deepu says “You take an average, good-looking kid, and you enhance his jaw, elongate his chin, enhance his cheekbones, and suddenly he looks like the cover of Vogue.”
Then there’s the “bodybuilder,” who has similar procedures as the male model but wants to look more muscular. “A bodybuilder wants to go big,” Dr. Deepu says. “Big chest, big glutes, but muscularly defined. They also have some of that fatty tissue around the breasts from steroids that we often remove as well .”
The third type of man identified as getting plastic surgery to enhance their career was the “CEO or board member.” “These men are at the top of their career and they feel young and confident, but they’re worried they don’t look it,” Dr. Deepu says. “I tell these men I want to leave a few wrinkles – since wrinkles are sexy and trustworthy – and give them what I call the ‘Forbes Facelift.’”
The so-called “Forbes Facelift” typically consists of a neck lift, eyelift, jawline recontouring, and perhaps liposuction as well.
The only category that doesn’t specifically reference a career is the “athletic dad.” “As a play on the ‘mommy makeovers’ we now we have ‘daddy do-overs,’. “This is what the banker wants. He’s married with kids, probably put on 15 pounds. He’s in his 40s and he’s thinking, ‘I used to look so good in college.’” These men typically go for jawline recontouring, liposuction, and a small eyelift.
Currently, the most common cosmetic procedures for men are liposuction surgery, rhinoplasty (nose job), eyelid surgery, gynecomastia surgery(removal of breast tissue), and ear shaping, according to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery