Women continue to lead the charge to the plastic surgeon’s office for everything from liposuction to lip injections, but increasing numbers of men are getting rid of wrinkles and zapping leg veins.
From 2000 to 2004, the number of men seeking minimally invasive procedures such as Botox injections and laser hair removal grew 43 percent, compared with a 35 percent increase for women, says the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
The expanding availability of quick cosmetic fixes, combined with the proliferation of makeover TV shows and the pressure to stay competitive in the workplace is causing men to focus on their appearance, observers say.
Nelson Vetanze, a chiropractor who has worked
with the Denver Broncos and on movies such as “The Longest Yard,” isn’t shy about his reasons for visiting the dermatologist.
“I’m not interested in looking young, but looking younger than I am,” says Vetanze, 59, who has been attentive to his diet and skin for years. “Lately I’m into Botox and laser hair removal. And dermabrasion. My wife does it and looks good, so I figure if she can do it, so can I.
“I don’t dye my hair or dress like a teenybopper, but if I can take some of the roughness away, why not?”
Vetanze was among 55 men who recently spent an evening learning about cosmetic procedures at Cara Mia Medical Day Spa in Englewood, which is run by dermatologist Leslie Capin.
By the end of the night, 90 percent had purchased treatments or made appointments for laser hair removal, Botox and microdermabrasion, she says.
“One of my patients suggested it,” Capin says of the men’s night. “We’ve done girls’ night out for three or four years, and it has become so popular we are having to turn people away.”
Male vanity is the great unspoken secret of our society, says Stephen Perrine, editor in chief of Best Life magazine. “The man who may never have imagined himself getting a face-lift can see having a little freshening up, especially if he can do it on his lunch hour or after work. Now that you can get your teeth whitened and your skin smoothed out, it’s not a great leap to think about an eye job.”
Capin says men comprise 25 percent of her practice. When she relocated Cara Mia earlier this year, she designed the 10,000-square-foot space with marble and granite so that it would appeal equally to men and women.
Statistics back up what Capin is seeing in her practice, particularly for procedures that involve little or no recovery time. Botox injections – which deaden muscles and eliminate wrinkles in such areas as the forehead and between the eyes – increased 250 percent between 2000 and 2004 for men, laser treatment of leg veins was up 164 percent, and microdermabrasion increased 160 percent, according to the plastic surgeons group.
Not all guys are open about it; several of Capin’s male patients didn’t want to speak on the record about their treatments.
Alan Matarasso, a New York plastic surgeon and spokesman for the group, has a separate entrance at his Park Avenue practice to protect the privacy of patients who don’t want to mingle with others in the waiting room.
“We’re seeing major Wall Street executives and people in media, down to blue-collar workers,” he says. He recently met with a 22-year-old man who lost a massive amount of weight, and a a 58-year-old dentist who wanted to have his eyelids done. (Blepharoplasty, the third most sought cosmetic procedure by men, removes excess fat from the upper and lower eyelids.)
The plastic surgeon is quick to point out to patients that minimally invasive procedures are no substitute for surgery. “The approach we take is integrated facial rejuvenation. I recently did a face-lift on a patient, and we also did a little Botox on the forehead and some laser work around the eyes.”
Men tend to focus on one area of their bodies and get it taken care of, whereas women will do procedures from head to toe, Matarasso says. Men also are more likely than women to need to get back to work quickly, which often is why they choose minimally invasive procedures over surgery.
“The overwhelming thing they choose is Botox,” the plastic surgeon says of his male patients. “Men rarely get fine lines like women do, so they don’t need some of the other treatments.”
Two procedures Matarasso thinks will continue to increase for men are upper arm lifts and lower body lifts, procedures that saw 368 percent and 268 percent increases between 2000 and 2004. Those surgeries are usually done following massive weight loss due to gastric bypass surgery, the type that “Today” TV show weatherman Al Roker had several years ago.
People who lose lots of weight “get gobs of hanging skin and need body contouring,” Matarasso says. For men with just a little fleshiness, liposuction can take care of their midsection love handles, and excess fat in their neck and chest.
There are other reasons why males are getting work done, says Matarasso.
“The fact that a baby boomer turns 50 every eight seconds; that people are sitting in the dens of their homes reading articles or watching TV shows about surgery; and the feeling that everyone else is doing it.”
Perrine, the magazine editor, agrees. “We have an aging population that is looking for quick fixes,” he says. “And TV shows like ‘Nip/Tuck’ are presenting plastic surgery as if it’s the norm and not unusual.
“The other thing to keep in mind is that women who get surgery tend to be more motivated by vanity, while men are thinking about protecting their job,” he says. “We found out through the Enron and Tyco scandals that men are adept at fudging numbers; well, now it’s their age they’re fudging.”
Staff writer Suzanne S. Brown can be reached at 303-820-1697 or sbrown@denverpost.com.
