The American male grooming market is now at about 4 billion dollars. Men are feeling the need to look younger and more dynamic. This has led many men to rethink their attitudes about diet, pills, exercise, face and body care products and especially plastic (cosmetic) surgery. Just like women, they want to change what they see in the mirror. Luckily, help is available from plastic (cosmetic) surgeons like Dr. Alan Kingdon.
Almost any procedure available to women can also be done for men but there are some that are very popular. These include breast reductions, liposuction, hair transplantation, nose reshaping (rhinoplasty) and eyelid shaping.
Male breast reduction is becoming more and more popular. The type of reduction a plastic surgeon does depend on the cause of the extra breast tissue. If its fatty tissue liposuction may be all that’s needed. If extra glandular tissue is what’s causing the enlargement it is removed surgically under general anesthesia. After surgery you’ll wear a pressure garment for a week or two and any swelling will go down in this period also. Avoid heavy exercise for three weeks or so. In about month you can resume you normal activities. Avoiding sun exposure is important for at least six months so scars don’t appear darker if they form.
Rhinoplasty (nose reshaping) is done under general anesthetic. There are two types closed and open. Closed does not require and incision on the outer tissues (skin) of the nose and is quicker to heal. Open involves an incision across the skin between the nostrils. The surgery takes between one and two hours and is usually done on an outpatient basis.
Liposuction removes fat from different sites on the body. This includes the stomach, buttocks, back of the arms, neck, abdomen and other areas. The amount of fat that can be removed is about 10 pounds, but keep in mind this is not a weight loss method. The contouring made possible with liposuction causes the appearance of weight loss, and it is usually greater than the amount of fat removed. A cannula (tube) and aspirator (suction device) remove the fat. An antibiotic is given before the procedure, local anesthetic is injected into the area to be treated and a sedative is given to the patient. The actual incisions for the cannula are only about a quarter to half an inch. The only thing a patient should feel is a scrapping sensation from the cannula movement. You can usually get up, walk around and go home the same day unless general anesthesia was used (which is an option). If general anesthesia was used you will need someone to drive you home. Very few complications can happen. These include bruising, swelling, scarring, pain, limited mobility of the area and numbness. Most of them disappear in a few weeks if they do happen.
