gay men booming cosmetic treatments - sydney cosmetic clinic

Gay Men lead rush for makeovers, surgeons say
By Clay Lucas
July 3, 2005

Sydney Gay Men Cosmetic Clinic
MD COSMEDICAL SOLUTIONS
1300 FACELIFT

Australian men are going under the knife in greater numbers, with doctors saying the gay community is driving a surge in plastic surgery.

The Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons says gay Australian men are following their US counterparts and leading the charge for cosmetic surgery, although gay groups dispute this.

"Twenty years ago, it was very uncommon for men outside the entertainment industry having cosmetic surgery. Now we see 10 to 15 per cent men," Dr Howard Webster, a Melbourne plastic surgeon and Victorian spokesman for the society, said.

Much of that growth had come from the gay community, the society said.

"The gay community has a much higher uptake of cosmetic surgery as part of their lives than middle-class, white-collar suburbia," Dr Webster said. "They are the biggest male group getting cosmetic surgery. But they're still far less than women."

Most common procedures for men were liposuction and upper and lower eyelid surgery, Dr Webster said.

Advertisement
AdvertisementLiposuction could cost $2000 to $3000, he said, although this excluded hospital and anaesthetic costs.

Eyelid work could cost from $1500 to $5000.

The society says more people are having cosmetic surgery in Australia, although it could not supply the figures.

"There is an increasing demand for plastic surgery here, especially with the awareness in the community up after the makeover shows," Dr Webster said.

There is no national system for collecting data on cosmetic surgery in Australia. The most recent reliable numbers come from a 1999 NSW Government inquiry that said 50,000 Australians had cosmetic surgery each year.

There was a 16 per cent jump in the number of men having plastic surgery in the US between 2000 and last year, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, with 1.2 million operations on on US men last year.

Gay groups disputed the claim it was the gay community fuelling the increase in cosmetic surgery.

"It is straight men who are doing it - not gay men ," Troy Gurr, editor of the newspaper Melbourne Community Voice, said.

"There is so much more pressure now on straight men to look good," he said.

"I know an awful lot of gay men who use botox, but they will draw the line at actual surgery.

"But I'm not sure straight men draw that line."

OPERATION VANITY
· Liposuction - removal of fat
· Eyelid surgery
· Abdominoplasty - removal of excess skin from the middle and lower abdomen, to reduce protrusion
· Rhinoplasty and septoplasty - altering appearance of the nose
· Facial rejuvenation - surgery to lift sagging or deepening folds around mouth, brow or neck

LESS COMMON PROCEDURES
· Chest implants - solid silicone placed beneath pectoral muscles
· Calf implants - solid silicone implants inserted from behind the knee and moved into position underneath the calf muscle

MD Cosmedical Solutions
Sheraton on the Park
Shop 6, 128 Castlereagh St
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: 1300 885 808
www.mdcosmedicalsolutions.com.au