Former president Bill Clinton generated a stir with his speech at the Democratic National Convention —and it had nothing to do with politics. Observers watching the one-time leader of the free world on television commented that Clinton seems to have had some type of cosmetic procedures done, although they disagreed about the exact nature of the treatments.
Facelift? Probably not. Blepharoplasty? Yeah, it looked like the upper and lower eyelids had work done. Laser skin resurfacing, fillers, and BOTOX® have all been mentioned online as possibilities by aesthetic specialists.
“Clinton, 69, looked leaner, younger and more refreshed than ever,” the Hollywood Reporter weighed in, “as if he had experienced a Benjamin Button moment — aging backward, albeit very subtly.”
If Clinton has had an injection here, a nip-and-tuck there, he is among the ever-increasing group of today’s men who are paying more attention to how to combat the signs of aging. Between 1997 and 2015, the number of cosmetic procedures performed on men rose by more than 100%, according to statistics from the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In the five years leading up to 2014, procedures for men rose 43%.
In 2015, liposuction (including for the neck), nose surgery, eyelid surgery, and facelift were 4 of the top 5 cosmetic surgery procedures for men.
Injectables such as BOTOX and JUVÉDERM were the most popular nonsurgical procedures for men. They minimize signs of aging temporarily by smoothing out wrinkles until the body naturally absorbs them.
Facial plastic surgery and nonsurgical treatments, such as injectable fillers and laser rejuvenation, carry less of a stigma among men than they used to. And the pressures are growing, with men even citing competition for advancement at work as a reason to turn to plastic surgeons for a boost.
Looking at Clinton, it’s easy to see why the popularity has continued to grow. He doesn’t look “worked on,” and the changes are not shocking. Dr. Joubin Gabbay, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Southern California, told the Hollywood Reporter that Clinton’s tighter, smoother facial skin and contoured jawline is what stood out to him. He believes Clinton combined a facelift with a neck lift and may have had some type of resurfacing.
Still, despite its increased prevalence, men remain more secretive about undergoing cosmetic procedures than women. Advanced surgical techniques used by plastic surgeons create subtle changes that allow a man to undergo a facelift, for example, without having to answer questions from co-workers or acquaintances.
“The best part of a modern-day facelift technique is that it achieves significant facial rejuvenation without changing patient’s unique facial features,” says Dr. Konstantin Vasyukevich, a Manhattan facelift specialist, on his website. “Long gone are the days of the facelift that would make the face look pulled or stretched. The face that appears ‘done’ or ‘lifted’ is not acceptable in today’s cosmetic surgery world.”
The increase in nonsurgical fat reduction techniques is also contributing to the rise. Procedures such as CoolSculpting® and KYBELLA® can reduce the neck fat that causes a double chin, which is one of the most common aesthetic concerns among men.
As more male celebrities and athletes — not to mention world leaders — become more comfortable turning to plastic surgeons to improve their appearance, you may very well notice that the guy next door (or in the next cubicle) is doing the same.
