More and more men are turning to aesthetic medicine

Aesthetic medicine and plastic surgery are now completely (or almost) mainstream. Perhaps even too much so, especially on social media. Increasingly younger girls turn to beauty doctors who work on their faces more or less deeply to prevent, enhance, or cure. The most talked-about procedures are the usual ones: fillers and botox, facelifts, rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, liposuction. However, there is an unexplored world of treatments, for women but also for men. When it comes to plastic surgery, the focus is often on women, almost automatically. We analyze them, whether famous or not, ask them for advice and opinions, criticize them when we think they've gone too far. Largely in the shadows, for public opinion, remains the world of aesthetic medicine for men (unless it's a striking case) that increasingly approaches it, defying prejudices and fears.

How many men go to the plastic surgeon? Word to Dr. Borbon

What do men ask of the aesthetic doctor? What do they want to eliminate, what to emphasize? We asked Giulio Borbon (aesthetic doctor, health director, and founder, in Milan, of Studio Borbon) to find out what he observes, from his observatory in the city, in terms of numbers, patients, and trends. "There is more demand than before, even compared to just 5 or 6 years ago. The men who come to us are mainly of two types: the men from 20 to 40, who have mainly requests for aesthetic medicine, and the ones from 40 years onward who tend to request corrections of blemishes that lend themselves more to surgical correction, such as blepharoplasty." The approach, moving from women to men, changes. "We must be careful about how males are treated because aesthetic medicine tends to be feminizing. Think, for example, of hyaluronic acid, which makes the face rounder and creates volumes. We must not cross that threshold unless it is an explicit request from the client." Much of the online discourse on the subject is based on aesthetic medicine, with a focus on lip fillers, following a statistic published by the Harley Street Clinic in London, which documented a 74% increase in the demand for lip fillers from male clients. After all, as the doctor explains, "Lip mucosa absorption exists in both men and women. In women, it is perceived more, in men less, but it exists."

Men are no longer afraid of being ridiculed

"Men have freed themselves a bit. They feel freer to come without great embarrassment to request this type of treatment, without fear of feeling ridiculed. Why not? Of course, they remain in the minority, but the male lips that I treat, for example, lead to very beautiful results. Masculine, but still very beautiful." According to him, the origin of the increased requests it's: "A desire for normalization and acceptance, without feeling strange or out of place." This also extends to skincare, which, once considered exclusively feminine, becomes for everyone: "Until a while ago, it was completely feminine, and men's skincare lines from companies didn't work because they always seemed reductionist in terms of effectiveness. Now it is increasingly normal to take care of one's skin, with due differences because male skin and its aging are different."

(Other) Differences between Men and Women

The differences between men and women in their relationship with aesthetic and plastic surgery go beyond physical issues. Women experience aging and non-compliance with male beauty standards perhaps a bit more problematically than men, who have permission to be imperfect. This does not mean they may not want to take care of themselves, their lips, skin, and dark circles, of course. The doctor calls it "emotional reappropriation," that process that leads to taking control of one's appearance and aligning how we feel inside with how we see ourselves outside. Then, he also provides a note of color: "Men are more sensitive to pain and fear than women and they don't hide afterward when they may be swollen or something".