Toronto Cosmetic Surgery

Although MyTorontoCosmeticSurgery.com has a Canadian based focus, we couldn’t help but notice a new survey released by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. The study finds that American men, favoring Botox injections and liposuction, underwent 17 percent more cosmetic procedures in 2007 to more than 1 million treatments

Operations and less-invasive procedures among women still outnumbered those in men by 10 to one, and men mostly preferred a buttocks operation that’s gaining popularity, the society said Sunday. Botox,  generated $1.21 billion in sales last year, a 23 percent gain, counting cosmetic and medical uses.

Doctors, health centers and spas have made it more convenient for men to get cosmetic procedures, with later hours and more masculine settings and targeted advertising.  It’s clear that we’ve cleared the last hurdle remaining for men in order to take them from considering a procedure to actually going through with one.

“It’s coming into its own for men,” said Jason Pozner, a plastic surgeon in Boca Raton, Florida. “Men are much more aware of non- surgical products and they are much more amenable now to having things done. You are just as likely to see a man in my waiting room as a woman.”

Rates among women leveled off in 2007, with 10.6 million procedures. Women were most likely to get injections of Botox, used to smooth wrinkles, or breast implants, the survey found.

The biggest increase during the year was in buttocks augmentation, called a “Brazilian butt” for its popularity in the South American country, Pozner said. The number of such procedures more than doubled, with women being the patients in most cases, according to the report.

The five most common surgical procedures for men were liposuction, eyelid surgery, nose jobs, male breast reduction and hair transplants. Among women, the most popular were breast augmentation, liposuction, eyelid surgery, stomach surgery and breast reduction. Among non-surgical procedures, Botox, soft tissue fillers, laser hair removal and skin treatments were the most common in both groups.

Botox injections cost an average of $380, while breast implants were $4,000, buttock lifts were $5,000, liposuction was about $3,000 and nose jobs were $4,400. In all, Americans spent more than $13 billion on cosmetic surgery and less-invasive procedures last year, according to the report.

While injections of Botox remained the most popular treatment, the overall number of procedures with that drug fell 12.8 percent from 2006, the survey found.

The number of cheek implants also dropped, by more than 50 percent, as doctors and treatment providers used fillers instead, said Pozner, who serves on the advisory board for San Mateo, California-based BioForm Medical.

The Canadian Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery has yet to publish any similar data, but we’ll be on the look out for it and any greater Toronto Area cosmetic clinics that cater specifically to men.

Finally, it is important for your surgeon and for yourself that you both understand each other and that you are seeking the same goals at the conclusion of your surgery. The better your communication prior to your surgery is, the better your results will be and the more satisfied you will be as a cosmetic surgery patient.