Words: Dr. Van Dyke
Men are increasingly using dermal fillers to look younger, but how they use them is very different from women.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons reports that the use of facial fillers for men was up 10 percent last year, to 1.75 million procedures. For whatever reason—job competition, aging baby boomers—more men are looking for ways to restore a younger look. Men, like women, want a natural appearance in which they don’t “look done.” But men need another assurance as well—that the result is not going to be a “feminized” face.
In men, I often treat the traditional areas—the glabellar lines (the ‘11s” between the eyebrows), the nasolabial folds (the ‘parentheses’ around the mouth), and crow’s feet—with injectables. I try to soften these lines and contours, but I also balance the treatment by strengthening the masculine facial features to maintain a classic male look, as follows:
Cheek Bones. Using injectable fillers to define the cheekbones, this classic feature of a chiseled face can be enhanced. Along with strengthening the arch of the cheek, injections along the edge of the bone near the eye can soften the appearance of troughs and bags to give a more rested look.
Brow Bones. Similar to the cheekbone, definition of the brow bone can create a chiseled look.
Temples. The temples are even more important for a young look in men. As we age we lose soft tissue over the temples, sometimes resulting in a concave or “skeletonized” appearance. Replacing this loss can provide a subtle but significantly younger look.
Jaw Line and Chin. A strong jaw and chin are classic male features, which may become less conspicuous as we age, or perhaps we weren’t born with the chin or jaw we want. Injections along the jawbone or over the chin create a strong defined jawline.
