While it is true that the overall number of plastic surgery
procedures performed in the past few years is up, and the
number of men as a percentage of this total is increased,
women still far outnumber male patients by about 10:1 for
most practices. While male plastic surgery procedures are
somewhat different from woman's, their motivations for
undergoing plastic surgery are also different.
While both men and women undergo plastic surgery to look
physically better, you have to dig beyond this obvious
level to understand what their true motivations are. The
desired physical concerns or desired changes are just a
reflection of their unspoken concerns. As a general
statement, most women's motivations for plastic surgery are
true self-image issues. They want to fell better about
themselves. Correcting a physical flaw is one approach to
self-improvement. (and perhaps the easiest?) Whether it is
to have a breast augmentation to look better in clothes or
to have a facelift to not look old, women seem to be much
more concerned about doing the surgery truly for
themselves. I hear this over and over...'my husband doesn't
think I need it...or...'my friends say I look fine'. But
yet, women want to have the surgery anyway...becasue they
want to fell better about themselves. Men, conversely,
often undergo plastic surgery because they want things.
Whether it be to have more women, sex, money or power...it
most always deep down is motivated by a desire for external
or more tangible things. As a plastic surgerycorollary to
'Men are Venus, Women are from Mars'...Women do things for
themselves, Men usually do things for somebody else. or
other external raesons.
Men undergoing plastic surgery also are different from
women in other ways as well. They usually are not
interested in complex procedures that involve any
significant recovery, they are usually less compliant than
women and follow postoperative instructions poorly, their
response and tolerance to pain is often more pronounced,
and they often are more critical of the results. (or they
are at least more vocal) Much of this has to do with the
general greater impatience of men who want to get to the
final result quickly...and usually more discretely. This is
why smaller more subtle procedures for men are often
better, even if the result is not as significant. Men get
no accolades, and certainly little support, in society for
suffering through a plastic surgery recovery. And the aging
of men is generally better accepted in all societies.
Women, conversely, garner more empathy if they are
suffering to look more 'beautiful'. In fact, our society
expects them to do so.
The handling of the male plastic surgery patient, I have
found, is quite different from a female patient. And not
all plastic surgeons can work well with men. They often
require more time and patience than most female patients.
And the demands of the younger male patient are higher than
that of an older man. The young 'narcisistic' male patient
can be the most demanding and the most likely to require
revisional surgery to achieve a mutually satisfactory
result.
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Dr Barry Eppley runs a private plastic surgery practice
through his hospital-based medspa locations at Clarian
Health in Indianapolis. To learn more about the latest
trends in plastic surgery, spa therapies, or skin care, go
to his daily blog, http://www.exploreplasticsurgery.com .
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