Liposuction Is the No 1 Plastic Surgery among Men

08/18/2014 - 09h24

Liposuction, the most common plastic surgery among women, has also become the leader among men in Brazil, a public that normally avoids doctors.

Surgeons say the main reason for men to seek the surgery is to look younger and remain competitive in the job market.

In 2013, a total of 184,933 men underwent aesthetic operations in the country - 12% of the total. Liposuction alone led 27,529 men to remove fat - especially from under the chin, the waist and the abdomen.

The new data were in a report by Isaps (International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery), released in July.

Another study by the SBCP (Brazilian Plastic Surgery Society) and Ibope showed that liposuction was third in the ranking (15,000 procedures) in 2012.

In all, the correction of gynecomastia (unnatural growth of the breasts) is still the top aesthetic operation among men. In 2013, a total of 34,754 procedures occurred in Brazil.

However, 80% of them are done during adolescence, which makes liposuction the leader among men between the ages 25 and 50, says surgeon Carlos Uebel, president of Isaps.

"It's the guy who goes to the gym, goes on diets, but ends up with some fat in his abdomen, waist and neck," says Uebel, who has undergone the surgery himself. "It was the best thing I've ever done. Today I can wear a tight, elegant shirt."

Among the non-surgical procedures, botox injections is the leader, with 49,968 procedures in 2013.

Plastic surgeon Fábio Nahas, a professor at USP, says many men who undergo liposuction also choose to undergo liposculpture - the surgery reinserts the fat lost in the aging process, using the person's own fat, taken from the abdomen.

In 20 years, Nahas saw the number of men in his office rise from 10% to 35% of his patients. "The taboo involving men has been falling."

Folha spoke to eight men who underwent liposuction and none of them agreed to have his picture taken. Six of them spoke under the condition that they remain anonymous.

"My friends would all make fun of me. At the time I had the surgery done, I told them I went in for a hernia operation," says executive Fábio, 45, who didn't reveal his last name.

Country Singer Luciano Camargo, 41, who has had liposuction twice, says he has never been harassed.

"The adoration of male beauty has existed since ancient Greece. Today people see that it is normal to take care of their appearance."

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

Read the article in the original language

	Alex Argozino/Editoria de Arte/Folhapress