The number of men in the United States, and around the world, who are electing to have cosmetic surgery is on the rise. A few decades ago, plastic surgery was considered to be a female-only procedure, and the reasons to get plastic surgery were based on women wanting to look younger and more attractive. Today, many men have discovered that plastic surgery is a solution that can help them attain their goals in improving their appearance, as well.
Among the procedures men are choosing to undergo to improve their appearance is a facelift. The aging process affects men and women in similar ways: as the years go by, skin looses elasticity and gravity pulls skin downwards, creating sagging features on the face. Also, men and women both loose fatty tissue in the face that once made them look supple, youthful and wrinkle-free, but with the loss of this fatty tissue with age, tissue bags form under the eyes and the cheeks appear hollow.
Wrinkles are a main concern for both men and women, and wrinkles form from both the loss of skin elasticity that occurs with aging and also from long term exposure to the sun. Men, in particular, who were exposed to sunlight working outside in the summers without skin protection are now experiencing a great amount of wrinkling that can only be corrected with a facelift procedure.
While the causes of skin damage and facial aging may be similar for both men and women, the reasons to get a facelift are different. Top reasons for women seeking facelift surgery are to appear more attractive to partners, to look better in photographs, and to raise self-esteem. For men, the reasons to get a facelift have more to do with wanting to appear more youthful, powerful and successful, and wanting to maintain status among coworkers in an office. This comes up especially for men in high-powered positions, who are afraid that their aging face will signal to younger employees that it is time to push him out of his position and replace him with a younger leader.
Men who choose facelift surgery want to maintain a particular self-image. They fear that as their face ages, the ways others look at them will change and they want to stop the aging process as well as the risk that others will see them as “old”. They associate their recently-wrinkled appearance with weakness or loss of virility, and want a facelift to return to their previously more masculine appearance. Men are not as concerned with others finding them attractive; they are more concerned with others maintaining respect for them. Additionally, men are more concerned with the judgments of co-workers, employees, and bosses and less concerned about the judgments of family members or friends.
As the reasons to get a facelift are different for men and women, there are also specific concerns that men have going into facelift surgery that are different than the concerns of women. The most dreaded outcome of facelift surgery among men is the over-tightened look that makes men look feminine. This occurs when the skin is tightened too much, pulling the skin back too far and creating a facial appearance that is more associated with the features of women’s faces. This might include the skin around the eyes being pulled too tightly and creating a slight upward turn to the corner of the eyelid or the corners of the mouth, or the skin around the cheeks being pulled back too much and creating a smooth and taught appearance over the cheekbones. Men also don’t wish to have their sideburns elevated because this leads to a loss of a typical male feature.
For these reasons, male facelifts are an art that must be practiced with caution and an eye for perfection. The key to male facelift surgery is understanding the balance between correcting skin sagging but also maintaining the rugged lines and features that make a male face look masculine. In this respect, the success of male facelift surgery depends on a natural outcome, and avoids the “nipped and tucked” look. Ideally, men who undergo facelift surgery will look refreshed and younger, but others will not be able to pinpoint what looks different about them. Unlike women, who more often appreciate their family and friends noticing their younger and more attractive appearance, men wish to maintain a face that exudes power and control, but does not want others to suspect that anything has changed in regards to their face.
Because men have special concerns when electing to get facelift surgery, they must find a plastic surgeon that is aware of the risks and is an expert in performing the procedure on men. Dr. Kole, who practices in Southampton, PA out of his private office and licensed ambulatory surgical center, is an expert in male plastic surgery. With years of experience, he has gained an understanding of the reasons why men seek facelift procedures, and has an eye for perfection in correcting wrinkles and sagging while maintaining masculine features. To find out more about male facelift surgery at the Kole Plastic Surgery Center Center, contact Kole Plastic Surgery at 215-315-7655 to schedule a private complimentary consultation.
