More men are having plastic surgery to look younger and get rid of their ‘dad bod’

The ”dad bod” trend is over — and men are paying big to move on from it.

Traditionally women have gotten plastic surgery at higher rates than men, but now more men than ever are participating in the $14 billion plastic surgery industry, data released this week by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons showed.

Among men, there has been a boost in body contouring procedures such as liposuction (up 23%), tummy tucks (up 12%) and male breast reductions (up 30%) in the past year.

Those procedures help men shed the doughy exteriors that many associate with men who have settled down to have children and may not have the time — or incentive — to keep their bodies as sculpted as they once were.

“Men are now realizing it doesn’t take away from your masculinity to have a cosmetic procedure that makes you feel good about yourself,” she said.

More than 1.3 million cosmetic procedures were performed on men in 2017, up around 1% from the previous year, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The accounted for 8% of all cosmetic procedures. (Women had 14.5 million cosmetic procedures last year, a 2% increase on the previous year.)

The still-sizable number of men going under the knife is owed largely to changing social norms, said Lorelei Grunwaldt, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Pittsburgh.

With that in mind, more surgeons are targeting men. Daniel Maman, a cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgeon at 740 Park Plastic Surgery practice in New York City said his practice’s website now features a dedicated drop-down menu listing procedures specifically targeted at men.

And a Marina Del Ray, Calif. plastic surgeon, Grant Stevens, has opened a stand-alone clinic just for men called Marina Manland. Outfitted with leather chairs, it’s designed to feel like a combination spa, sports bar and cigar lounge.

Patients include ESPN announcers, pro athletes and high-powered lawyers who have seen their girlfriends and wives get plastic surgery and want the same results for themselves, he said. Some 41% of his Cool Sculpting patients — a fat reduction procedure — are now men, and he’s doing more face lifts for men than ever in his 30-year career.

Shifting gender norms aren’t the only reason for the boost to plastic surgery procedures for men. The number of cosmetic procedures of all kinds has increased 115% since 2000, which many surgeons attribute to the rise of social media.

The majority of plastic surgeons (66%) say that patients request procedures such as lip fillers based on posts by social media stars like Kylie Jenner. Over 40% of surgeons in a recent American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery survey said patients said looking better in selfies on Instagram, Snapchat  and Facebook was an incentive for getting surgery.

With the rise of plastic surgery comes one dangerous effect: people may seek out low-cost procedures from people who are not well-qualified to carry them out, a study published in August 2017 in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal found.

Of more than 1.7 million plastic surgery ads on Instagram  surveyed by the researchers, just 18% were posted by board-certified plastic surgeons. Others were posted by barbers, salons, dentists, and other non-certified physicians, putting patients who respond to ads at risk, the study said.

“In general, you get what you pay for,” Maman said. “If the surgery seems inexpensive, then I would question surgeon credentials and board certification.”