The questions men bring to a plastic surgeon tend to be specific. A roll of fat outlasted every diet; a jawline softened into the neck. The men asking want plain answers about what surgery can change.
The questions below follow the men’s procedures described by the practice of Leo Lapuerta, MD, FACS, in its guidance on plastic surgery for men in the Houston area. Dr. Lapuerta is a triple board-certified plastic surgeon with more than 30 years of experience and more than 30,000 surgical and non-surgical procedures behind him.
Questions about the body
Are these the same operations women get?
In several cases, yes. The practice notes that many procedures first designed for women are now used by men as well. A facelift follows a similar plan for both sexes, and the difference lies in the goals each patient brings.
Other operations take a different form in men. Breast reduction in men goes by its own name, gynecomastia surgery. The practice also treats Poland’s syndrome, a condition present before birth in which one side of the body has less muscle and fat; the practice says Dr. Lapuerta can restore tissue with skin grafting or implants.
I diet and train. Why won’t this fat move?
The practice lists liposuction among the most common procedures for men. It describes men who work hard at diet and exercise to lose weight and still find certain areas holding on to stubborn fat. Liposuction removes that excess tissue to improve the overall physique.
Surgeons use it to contour those resistant areas, while weight loss itself comes from diet and exercise. The practice names the zones men tend to focus on: the chest and abdomen, plus the love handles, where excess fat often collects.
Can anything fix a fuller chest?
Gynecomastia, an excess of breast tissue in men, has its own operation. The practice lists weight gain, genetics and steroid use among the possible causes. Surgery removes the extra tissue, and the technique depends on what the surgeon finds during the exam.
Questions about the face
My jaw used to be sharper. Can surgery bring it back?
The practice calls a strong jawline a masculine trait that can sag with age, as the skin loosens and fat collects around the chin and neck. It describes a facelift as a way to restore that definition. Men, the practice adds, may focus on different areas of the face than women do.
Is there a fix for tired-looking eyes?
The eyes are among the first features to show age, according to the practice. A brow lift can open up the eye area and soften the look of wrinkles. If the eyelids themselves droop, eyelid surgery is the procedure the practice points to.
The practice gives the face extra weight in its men’s guidance for a plain reason: it calls the face the first feature most people notice.
Practical questions
Can I treat more than one area?
The practice describes body contouring for men with one area of concern or several, and says Dr. Lapuerta sits down with each patient to build a plan around his goals. The number of procedures that make sense together is a medical decision for the consultation, and each operation carries its own risks.
Who does the surgery, and where?
Dr. Lapuerta is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery, and in Surgery of the Hand. He serves as Chairman of Plastic Surgery at St. Joseph Hospital in Houston and teaches on the faculty serving UT-Houston, the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and the plastic surgery fellowship at Houston Methodist Hospital.
He owns and operates a QuadA (AAAASF) accredited surgical facility and works with physician anesthesiologists, not nurse anesthetists or anesthesia assistants. Patients can review more than 3,000 before-and-after images of his work.
How should I pick a surgeon?
Dr. Lapuerta’s answer centers on two things: board certification, and how many times and for how many years a surgeon has performed the procedure you want. In his view, that experience is the best determinant of an outcome patients judge as good.
That gives a man a concrete question to bring to any first appointment: how many of these operations has this surgeon done, and over how many years?
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Results vary from patient to patient. Consult a board-certified plastic surgeon or your physician about your own situation. Written in partnership with Joseph Lambert, a publicist working with Leo Lapuerta, MD Plastic Surgery.
