While it is still mostly women that turn to cosmetic surgery as a way to fix pervieved flaws in their appearance, it seems that this might not be the case in the near future. According to a recent article in the LA Times, an increasing number of men in the United States are opting for various plastic surgery procedures, with the most popular being liposuction. There is a similar trend in the United Kingdom as well meaning that visiting a London liposuction clinic is no longer “a girl thing”.
As noted in the LA Times article, which quotes data of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASPS), in 2011, nine percent of all surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures in the US were performed on men. And while this number might not seem as impressive considering that the remaining 91 percent of cosmetic surgery patients must have been women, the ASPS statistics also shows that the number of men seeking cosmetic surgery has increased with the much more impressive 121 percent since 1997. In the UK, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) reports a similar increase for 2011, with the most recent BAAPS data showing that male surgery accounted for 10 percent of all surgery procedures.
In terms of trends regarding specific plastic surgery procedures popular among males, liposuction is on top of the list for US patients, with the LA Times reporting that more than 41,000 lipoplasty procedures were performed on men in 2011, or a 14 percent increase from the previous year. It seems, London liposuction clinic visits are not uncommon for men in the UK either, as according to the BAAPS, male liposuction went up by eight percent in 2011. British men actually seem to be quite concerned about their waistline, considering that male tummy tucks in particular increased by 15 percent in 2011. Among the other popular male surgery choices both in the US and the UK are eyelid surgery and gynaecomastia surgery, more commonly known as male breast reduction.
If we examine the reasons behind the growing number of male cosmetic surgery clients, perhaps the most obvious is the growing popularity of cosmetic surgery in general combined with significant advances in plastic surgery techniques. As noted in the LA Times article, advances in anaesthesia in particular have made many procedures available on an outpatient basis. In the UK, it has become common for patients to visit a London liposuction clinic only for the procedure itself, while being able to recover in the comfort of their own home.
Among the social reasons for the growing popularity of male cosmetic surgery is the desire of men to look more youthful. The LA Times quotes Dr. Babak Azizzadeh of Beverly Hills, a Harvard-trained plastic surgeon specialising in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of the face, eyes and nose, who notes the economy also has something to do with the male cosmetic surgery trend. “It's requiring that people look younger and more youthful. In the past, CEOs had to have a lot of gray hair. Now you see Mark Zuckerberg, these big entrepreneurs who are young”, he notes.
Whatever the reasons, it seems that an increasing number of men are letting go of their prejudices against plastic surgery while at the same time trying to come to terms with the fact that they are not getting any younger. So, guys who still shy away from visiting a London liposuction clinic should note that improving your appearance in this way is no longer only the preserve of women.