More men are choosing facial plastic surgery, a field that has long centered on women. The operations are the same in name, but a man’s face brings its own planning problems, starting with the beard.
Leo Lapuerta, MD, FACS, a triple board-certified plastic surgeon in the Houston area, offers facial plastic surgery for men in Houston alongside his work with female patients. He chose the specialty in part for that range. As he puts it: “In medical school, I fell in love with surgery and pursued plastic surgery because it is the most challenging surgical speciality and allows me to help all ages of both female and male patients.”
A different plan for a man’s face
A facelift works the same way regardless of sex. It lifts deeper tissues, tightens the support layer beneath the skin and removes excess skin to restore contour along the jawline and neck. Dr. Lapuerta’s practice states that the same principles apply to men, while incision placement, beard-bearing skin and facial structure require careful planning.
The reason is practical. Facelift incisions sit around the ears and along the hairline, placed to keep scarring minimal. On a man, the skin near the ear may carry beard growth, and the surgeon has to account for where that hair will sit after the skin is repositioned. The practice also notes that scar quality depends on technique, aftercare, skin quality and healing tendencies, and that sun exposure can worsen how scars look.
Facial structure matters as well. The practice describes good facelift results as coherent, with the face and neck matching and the jawline looking cleaner. For a man, a natural result keeps the features that read as his own.
Procedures men ask about
The practice lists facelifts, eyelid surgery, contouring and nose surgery among the facial options for men. It singles out facial fat transfer as one of the most popular for men: the procedure uses liposuction to remove fat from elsewhere on the body and injects it into areas of the face that have lost fullness.
Two upper-face procedures appear on the list too. A brow lift can open up the eyes and reduce lines and wrinkles, and eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, addresses droopy lids and a puffy or hooded look. Depending on the case, Dr. Lapuerta may recommend facial fillers or suggest a facelift.
The facelift itself comes in several forms at his practice, from a mini facelift for early changes to traditional, SMAS, deep plane and extended deep plane techniques. A neck lift often joins the plan when laxity extends below the jaw.
Good candidates, by the practice’s measure
According to the practice, good candidates are in good overall health, have areas of the face they want to improve and hold reasonable expectations. Dr. Lapuerta reviews medical history and any condition that could make surgery difficult or dangerous.
The practice describes the typical male facial surgery candidate as a man in his 50s with mild to moderate signs of aging, though patients of other ages may benefit with a doctor’s approval. As with any patient, significant excess skin in the lower face and neck calls for more than a mini facelift.
The practice also notes a career motive: looking younger may help a man who is job hunting and competing with younger applicants. Whatever the reason, recovery requires real time off. The practice lists a facelift recovery time of two to three weeks, with swelling and bruising peaking in the first few days and activity limits on lifting and strenuous exercise. Like any surgery, a facelift carries risks.
The surgeon across the table
Dr. Lapuerta has more than 30 years of experience and more than 30,000 surgical and non-surgical procedures. He is Chairman of Plastic Surgery at St. Joseph Hospital and teaches through UT-Houston, the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and the fellowship at Houston Methodist Hospital. In his view, a surgeon’s experience with a given procedure, in cases and years, together with board certification, best predicts an outcome patients will judge as good.
He operates in a QuadA (AAAASF) accredited surgical facility that he owns, with physician anesthesiologists only. For a man weighing the decision, the more than 3,000 before-and-after images his practice keeps for review offer a chance to look for faces, and jawlines, like his own.
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.