According to the statistics report from the?American Society of Plastic Surgeons?(ASPS), out of the 68,106 breast-reduction surgeries that occurred last year, men accounted for more than 40 percent of them. And that’s the first time they’ve accounted for such a high percentage. While it may be surprising to the rest of us that more men are getting cosmetic procedures done, it’s not that surprising to Scot Glasberg, the most recent past president of ASPS. “The stigma for getting cosmetic surgery for men is getting lifted. It’s been lifted for a while for all patients, but I think women tend to jump first, and then men jump after,” he says. “Social media has helped to get the word out, and I think reality TV shows, like?Botched, also help to show other people the results of these procedures.” Unlike women, who often get breast-reduction surgeries only to relieve the pain of having large breasts, it’s the added social scrutiny that often contributes to the choice for men. “There are varying degrees of breast reductions for men. The mild ones want to look more toned and get their pec muscles showing; the moderate to severe ones are getting it because it just doesn’t look pleasant when they take their shirt off, so they want to do something about it,” says Glasberg. “For people with mild cases, they’re working out and lifting weights, and they’re not getting that toned look that they want, and the reason is because they have this layer of fatty tissue sitting on top of their breasts and the skin doesn’t pull back against the pec muscle. When you remove that fatty tissue, the skin re-creates itself and you get that toned look.” However, Glasberg says that (as with many cosmetic procedures) the results are only permanent when maintained through proper diet and exercise. Another reason the procedure is gaining popularity among men is the recovery is mild. “Breast-reduction surgery is not one that can take a person out of work for a very long period of time,” says Glasberg. “You can go back to work a couple days later, and no one would know because you’re all bandaged up and you just wear a shirt to cover it up. That helps because men are often anxious to get back to work.” Glasberg says Botox and fillers are also surging in popularity among men. It’s one interesting (albeit not ideal) way the gender gap seems to be slowly normalizing of late.

Source: Allure