When it comes to looks, Bruce is on top of things. The
58-year-old SoCal professional has lived a good life, maintained his
physique and is pleased with his overall appearance. But, until
recently, underneath the veneer of attractiveness was something Bruce
felt self-conscious about — scars left over from an accident he’d had as
a teenager. 

 

At the time, he said, doctors were
more concerned with saving his life than preserving his skin. He was
left with noticeable surgery scars that went through several layers of
tissue on his chest and back. For 40 years he kept them covered whenever
possible, though the gruesome reminders of his childhood misfortune
were always with him. 

 

“When I was out at the
beach, it looked that much more grotesque,” he recalled.

 

Bruce,
who declined to use his last name, was working in Pasadena when he saw
an ad in the Pasadena Weekly, proclaiming the skills of board-certified
plastic surgeon Dr. Gloria de Olarte. His decision to see her was about
more than just looking good — it was about reclaiming his body image and
feeling comfortable in his skin.

 

Whether for
medical corrective reasons, or out of a simple desire to look as young
as they feel on the inside, more and more men are turning to plastic
surgeons and the ever-expanding spectrum of services they provide.

 

This
reflects a national trend among men and women who are willing to spend
good money on technologies and products that tuck, fill and reduce
problem areas. According to figures released by the American Society for
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the number of surgical cosmetic treatments
performed nationwide between 1998 and 2008 increased 114 percent. The
use of nonsurgical cosmetic solutions, such as Botox and injectible
fillers like Restylane, increased by 754 percent in the same decade. 

 

De
Olarte attributes this increase in demand to a widening acceptance and
normalization of cosmetic procedures in mainstream culture. As more
celebrities open up about the work they’ve had done and more commercials
advertise similar solutions for the average Joe and Jane, more people
see themselves as likely candidates for cosmetic improvements.

 

When
de Olarte opened her Pasadena practice 22 years ago, face-lifts and
tummy tucks were reserved for the wealthy and were kept very hush-hush.
That’s not necessarily the case today.  Men account for roughly 10
percent to 15 percent of her total clientele, although they comprise
approximately one-third of the patients who come seeking injectibles
such as Botox, she said.

 

“It’s more open now,” she
added. “(My patients) see people on television and actors who look not
too bad. It has become more acceptable for females and males, too.”

 

 

In
today’s economic climate, where jobs are scarce and applicants
plenteous and hungry, people may be looking to something as simple as a
temporary Botox injection to create a visage that projects an inner
competence 

and confidence. 

 

De Olarte
admits that while her female patients come from a broad swath of
socioeconomic backgrounds, most of her male clients typically have
high-level positions where status may be more of a concern. “Men with
education and power are taking care of themselves,” de Olarte said.
“They don’t want other people to see them as old.”

 

Recapturing
youth and appearing as fresh as one did in days of yore may be one
benefit of cosmetic procedures, but it isn’t the only one. Anyone who’s
undergone surgery or surrendered their skin to the sting of the
Restylane needle will likely tell you it satisfies a bigger, more deeply
resonant need. 

 

For Bruce, plastic surgery was a
way to reclaim the body he knew as his own. It helped him make what he
saw on the outside match how he felt on the inside. And that, he said,
made him feel better about himself. 

 

“I believe
you should let everybody be an individual and do what’s right for them,”
he said. “If they want to do it and they can afford it, more power to
them.”