Its new male clients are not just urban metrosexuals, but also older employees in people-oriented jobs who need to compete with younger men in a slowing national economy.
Dr. Camille Cash, a plastic surgeon at the St. Joseph Medical Center in Houston, Texas, said the older males are often in sales jobs. To take off years from their face they try an eyelid tuck in which extra skin folds are cut. Senior male executives who have deeper pockets resort fo full facelifts.
But even the younger males are also cosmetic surgery clients too for body sculpture procedures. Dr. Lee Steely, a cosmetic surgeon from River Oaks, told the Houston Chronicle, "I'm seeing younger men come in for liposuction. At first it was the guys who work out all the time who get obsessed about trouble spots... Now I'm seeing more Average Joes who say, 'I'm not a bodybuilder, but I want this spare tire off.'"
However, females are the still main income source of plastic surgeons, accounting for 9 of 10 cosmetic procedures. But male cosmetic surgeon visits are on the rise with 1.1 million plastic surgeries done on male patients in 2007, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Some areas are even cashing in on plastic surgery procedures to boost their tourism revenue as well. Called medical tourism which is popular in many Asian cities, even American cities are now promoting their places as healthcare destinations.
Early this year, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, on a trade mission to Mexico, promoted Dallas to Mexicans as a more affordable alternative to Texas capital Houston, which has traditionally attracted affluent Mexicans for high-end medical treatments, including plastic surgeries.
