I was interviewed for an article about cosmetic surgery and male patients.  Here is an excerpt from the article written by Bill Ward, reporter for the Minneapolis StarTribune.  Click below for a link to the article in its entirety.

April 28, 2011

Plastic surgery has a new face, and it’s more  Joe the Plumber than Joan Rivers.

Last year saw nationwide increases in face-lifts (14 percent), liposuction (7 percent) and  even breast reductions (6 percent) among  men, according to the American Society of  Plastic Surgeons. Men got 13 percent of the  nation’s cosmetic surgeries in 2010,  compared with 8 percent in 2008.

As procedures have become  more affordable — a big boon because  insurance plans don’t typically cover nipntucks  — more “regular guys” and “man’s men” are getting cosmetic work done.

Dr. Ralph Bashioum of Wayzata has noticed a  similar pecking order: “You might see a man  get a liposuction this year in advance of a  beach vacation next year.”  The contributing factors are old (vanity  dates at least to Narcissus) and new (Botox  is largely a 21st-century phenomenon).  But men loathe talking about it publicly. “Men are more private about this than  women,” Bashioum said. “It might be (secretive) like this  kind of surgery was for women 20 years  ago.”  But they’re still showing up at plastic  surgeons’ offices for eyelid lifts, cheek  implants and earlobe reductions.

Read reporter Bill Ward’s entire article at StarTribune.com.