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Health

Why More Men Are Getting Calf and Pec Implants

Apparently women aren’t the only ones getting body implants.
Before and after of a pectoral implant procedure. Photos courtesy of Visage Clinic

With beauty standards as ridiculously high as they are for women, it’s understandable why plastic surgery tends to be more associated with that gender. But, according to a Toronto-based plastic surgeon, men are increasingly seeking cosmetic procedures too.

“The numbers started going up when the internet became popular, but it went up exponentially with social media about five years ago,” said Dr. Marc DuPéré, a plastic surgeon who’s been practicing for 17 years.

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Plastic surgery for men in the US has been surging in the last five years too, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. In 2017, according to the society, more than 1.3 million cosmetic procedures were conducted on men. There was an especially robust increase in filler injections for men, though liposuction and tummy tucks also saw significant increases.

DuPéré sees patients from all over Canada and said that Toronto in particular “has a huge population of male interest in cosmetic surgery.” The downtown location of his practice, Visage Clinic, has about 18 to 20 percent male clientele, which he said is higher than average.

The surgeon said that Botox and filler injections are most popular for men in his practice, but that he also is more frequently doing pectoral implants for men, as well as calf implants. Liposuction is popular too at Visage, as well as a procedure that usually includes this called “muscle etching." Etching increases the look of definition and is commonly done on abs.

“A common insecurity is when men come to us and have this conic breast tissue; that opens the door to pec implants,” he explained. DuPéré said he is conducting about 25 to 40 pectoral pair implant procedures per year currently. He is seeing about 50 to 75 male calf implant patients a year, a procedure he said has been popular for longer.

Body implants, such as those for calves or pecs, are typically made of a silicone, but a firmer version than you’d see in breast implant.

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DuPéré explained that a number of insecurities can arise over the chest area for men. That includes when there’s a “caved-in” area in the middle of their chest. “People can feel very self-conscious about this,” he explained.

For that, DuPéré said, the solution can be a “patient-specific, custom-made implant.”

DuPéré referenced how patients are coming in daily with photos from social media showing how they want their face or body to look. Though he said it’s more common for women to do this, he said it’s also increasing with his male patients.

“Men are curious about what [procedures] their girlfriends and wives are doing,” DuPéré said.

When it comes to low-downtime, discreet procedures like fillers, DuPéré said he sees all kinds of male clientele—lawyers, cops, architects, bankers, realtors, construction workers.

“Some of them don’t want their wives to know,” DuPéré said. “It’s regular guys… Especially those who are in professions where looking older is a disadvantage to their work."

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