Men are more aware of their appearance than ever, wanting to look as good as their regimens of healthy diet and exercise help them feel. In an effort to stay in the game, more men are turning to treatments and procedures that help turn back visible signs of aging.
According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), men accounted for nearly 10 percent of cosmetic procedures in 2013, but males comprise 30 percent of the patient population at the Baumann Cosmetic & Research Institute (Miami). With the recent FDA approval of Voluma, BCRI’s founder, board-certified dermatologist Leslie Baumann, M.D., expects this number to rise.
Voluma is a dermal filler made of a naturally occurring sugar called hyaluronic acid. This injectable has specific benefits for male patients, and Dr. Baumann treats men with Voluma on a daily basis. Because Voluma can last for 18 to 24 months, “I see it as a great option for people, like men, who want to look natural and can’t afford to be bruised every nine months,” she says. “With Voluma, you can do it on a Thursday, take Friday off and be back to work on Monday without anyone knowing you did anything.”
With age, the face loses its natural fat, and this is most obvious in runners and those with low body fat low percentages. Men often develop a horizontal line under the eye that is caused by the loss of this facial fat, but Baumann says, “Just putting a bit of Voluma in the mid-face can take decades off a man’s appearance, and if done properly, it’s undetectable.”
Baumann cautions that injecting Voluma requires special training, as well as an understanding of aesthetics like facial symmetry and bone structure. When choosing a dermatologist or aesthetic surgeon, men should look for a doctor with experience treating male patients with the injectable. “Men are injected differently than women because their faces naturally have a different shape,” says Baumann. Baumann was one of a handful of U.S. dermatologists involved in the FDA trials that led to Voluma’s approval, and she has been using the product for almost five years.