Couples Seeking Plastic Surgery Is a New Trend

There is anecdotal evidence showing that more couples are having cosmetic plastic surgery together.  And with men becoming more open with the idea of going under the knife, this trend is expected to continue in the coming years.

According to a 2011 data released by the American Society of Plastic surgery, men accounted for about 9 percent of all cosmetic procedures, both surgical and non-invasive in nature.

Overall, more than 1.2 million cosmetic procedures were performed on male patients in 2011, an increase by 6 percent from the previous year.

Leading Los Angeles plastic surgeon Dr. Tarick Smaili believes that men’s changing attitude toward cosmetic procedures has been the main reason for the new trend in which couples seek these treatments together in order to improve their appearance.

“It is not uncommon these days for couples to seek cosmetic procedures.  And in some cases, even if the husband has no plan of having aesthetic treatments, just seeing his wife who looks younger and more energetic than him after receiving a certain procedure may encourage him to do the same thing,” Smaili said.

Smaili also believes that men nowadays are more conscious of their appearance than in previous years because of a new employment trend.  As more workers postpone their retirement, the plastic surgeon said the number of couples seeking cosmetic procedures together would further increase.

But compared to women, men tend to choose non-invasive cosmetic procedures such as Botox injection, dermal fillers, and laser skin resurfacing which involve little or no downtime unlike surgeries.  For this reason, Smaili said that it is not uncommon for a wife to have a facelift while her husband resorts to other alternatives like collagen injection to achieve a more youthful appearance.

Meanwhile, couples seeking plastic surgery should bear in mind that certain procedures or surgical techniques may provide great results to women but not on men, and vice versa.

One example, Smaili said, is liposuction in the upper arm, a procedure that is almost exclusively performed on women.

“A slender arm is a much coveted feature if you are a woman.  However, this is not the case for men, which is why liposuction in this area is rarely performed on male patients,” Smaili said.

Couples should also consider the anatomical and biological difference of the two sexes, in addition to different lifestyle.  For instance, men tend to have more signs of photo-aging such as fine wrinkles and skin discoloration than women due to lack of proper skincare regimen.