Heavy 'Lifting' Not For Men, Says Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon

"Even if you have wrinkles and sagging on your face, you probably do not need a facelift. In some cases, facelifts make men look feminized. Better to have a neck lift, brow lift, and work on the eyes," says Dr. Lloyd Krieger of Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery in a post in one of his blogs.

In another of Dr. Krieger's blogs, he says, "With the wrong procedures, or the right procedures done the wrong way, men wind up looking less like they did when they were in college -- and more like their college-aged daughters."

Plastic surgery is growing ever more popular with men as the stigma once faced by cosmetically enhanced males fades into memory. In a recent article entitled Cosmetic Surgery: Definitely Maybe, the British paper, The Independent reports that one UK plastic surgery clinic has tracked an increase of 51% in abdomenoplasty (tummy tucks), a 44% increase in chin lifts, a 17% increase in face lifts and a 57% increase in Botox injections for men in the past twelve months alone.

If you type in "face lift for men" in a Google search bar, you'll get 2,760,000 results as of today, June 13th, 2008. Many of those links are to sites which state they specialize in male face lift procedures and detail the difficulties faced when performing the procedure on a man, as opposed to a woman.

"Specific problems that need to be accounted for in men as opposed to women in performing a facelift are receding hairlines, the greater visibility of scars around the ears and the presence of facial hair," states one of these web sites.

I tend to agree with Dr. Krieger. I've never seen a men's face lift turn out well. But, in my opinion male face lifts tend to look more alien than feminine. Just look at Axel, Tom, Mickey and Wayne... I mean, I've heard of a man being told his forehead is growing, but it's typically a sly way to point out a receding hairline. In the case of the men pictured above, their foreheads actually appear to be growing! Their eyebrows are slowing arching toward the back of their necks.

SFP certainly agrees with Dr. Krieger that "the wrong procedures, or the right procedures done the wrong way" can leave, not only men, but anyone looking like a Kabuki caricature of themselves. It's our philosophy that educated decisions are the best options when making your choices about cosmetic surgery. Men and women look their best after plastic surgery when the changes are subtle, well planned, throughly researched and artfully executed. Cosmetic medicine is an art form - the surgeon must not only be technically proficient, but he or she must have an eye for symmetry and beauty. Their canvases are the human face and body, after all.