Male Cosmetic Surgery
Cosmetic surgery for men generally focuses on two elements:
- on any deviation from a normal or pleasing countenanceon
- on the undesirable effects of aging
Hereditary factors, smoking, marked weight loss or gain, excessive exposure to the sun, and the quality of life-style in general can greatly affect an individual’s physical appearance.
The most obvious differences between men and women are the thickness of the skin, the distribution of body and head hairs, the physical characteristics and the distribution of fat: all of these conditions impact the surgical techniques used and the pre and post-operative protocols adopted.
Normally the procedures sought by men are the same as those for women, the difference being an adaptation of techniques.
Man’s Face
Regular features, along with expressivity, are the foundations of male beauty.
The lines and planes of the face must be proportioned to achieve balance and to make the face pleasant.
The nose, at the center of the face, must be in proportion with the rest of the features and can be modified to make it more aesthetically pleasing.
The lips must be full enough to create a face with a hint of virile sensuality.
The eyes and eyebrows must have a distinctive shape.
The skeletal part of the face must be well defined in the cheekbone and jawbone areas.
The Outline of the Face
Often a man’s face can lack definition in the cheekbone and the jawbone areas. This situation can create a reduction of incisiveness and expressivity; the lack of strength in cheekbone/jawbone makes way for wrinkles and creases.
The methods now used to augment the thickness in these areas are fillers that can be inserted in the soft tissue of the face to promote the growth of fibrous substances in sufficient quantity to fill in the crease caused by a wrinkle. These fillers can last several months and are not at all toxic.
A longer-lasting method is filling these areas with the patient’s own fatty cells, taken from the body where they are present in abundance. This procedure is called Lipostructure.
Implants can be used without visible scars to enhance a cheekbone, to define a jaw or correct a receding chin.
The Eye Area
The most obvious signs of aging in a man’s face are the eyelids. Compared to women, men’s eyelids are even more prone to sagging because of their thin skin; the lids tend to become heavy at an early age.
The procedure used to correct this problem, Blepharoplasty, is simple enough to be performed in Day Hospital and within a few days, it is possible to return to normal activity. The incision scars are hidden in the folds of the upper eyelid and in the eyelashes of the lower eyelid.
The eyebrows also tend to sag making the expression of the eyes seem angry or sad; to correct this, endoscopic lifting with minimal incisions behind the hairline, lifts the forehead and improves the general appearance.
Lip Surgery
By inserting a bio-compatible substance in the upper lip, the lips are filled in; the effect can last for several months depending on the type of filler used.
This procedure is performed without anaesthesia (except for very sensitive patients) and causes minimal swelling.A second surgical method is used to plump up the upper and lower lip, again in Day hospital and without scarring, using the patient’s own fat.
Baldness
Baldness affects one man in three and, even though it is not a disease, it is a major reason for discomfort in males. Due to the difficulties inherent in the problem, and for the many factors that cause it, baldness is a difficult problem to solve.
To date, there is no effective treatment that can cure baldness; there are some rivitalization treatments for the scalp that can slow hairloss, but not always permanently.
“Surgery” doesn’t need to be frightening, since the procedures are very safe; they are performed in Day Hospital with local anaesthesia and with a minimum of physical discomfort. The patient can return to normal activity the next day.
The most important factor for a good outcome is that the physician be highly trained in this particular procedure. There are actually two methods used for this problem:
- Self-transplant of micro and mini-implants
- The use of skin flaps.
SELF-TRANSPLANT
The self-transplant is based on the scientific principle that the hair follicles situated at the base of the head and on the temporal-parietal lobes are more resilient than the hairs in the front area because of bio-hormones. The technique is as follows: after a local anaesthesia, the hairs are taken out and are separated under a microscope into many tiny implants that will be grafted onto the bald area.
After approximately ten days, rooting has taken place; the hairs will begin to grow naturally 90 days after the procedure. After surgery, the patient will not need any medication and can go back to his normal activity the next day.
The Profile
Rhinoplasty is the most common of all cosmetic surgeries because, more than any other procedure, it can alter a person’s appearance. The operation consists of remodelling the bone and cartilage structure of the nose by entering through the nostrils and making a series of small corrections to reshape the abnormality. If there is a traumatic deviation of the nasal pyramid that reduces the ability to breathe, it will be necessary to treat the nasal septum to center it.
The procedure is usually performed with a local anaesthesia if the problem involves cartilage; or if the surgery involves the whole structure, it may last an hour or more and will require total anaesthesia.
Despite common opinion, the procedure is not painful, also because the treated area is injected with a local anaethesia that dulls the pain immediately after the surgery.
Medication and tampons are removed from the nose the following day, but a cast must be worn for 10 days to fix the new structure. The end result is immediately visible, and the nose continues to shrink in size for a few months after the procedure until it reaches its ideal size from six months to one year later.
Hair Removal
Advances in the field of laser research in the area of cosmetic surgery has revealed various techniques to address the problem of unwanted hair without damaging the skin.It is possible to eliminate the hair without lesions to the epidermis and derma as was common with older procedures.
The best results are achieved on darker skin where a lower strength of laser can be used effectively. On blond hair, the strength must be much stronger. After only six treatments, it is possible to see a marked difference in patients without particular hormonal imbalances. The treatments are not particularly painful and can usually be repeated every three weeks.
Medication and tampons are removed from the nose the following day, but a cast must be worn for 10 days to fix the new structure. The end result is immediately visible, and the nose continues to shrink in size for a few months after the procedure until it reaches its ideal size from six months to one year later.