As humans, we all cherish the connection we have with other people. Sometimes with age or through birth, our faces can convey messages that are inconsistent with the way we feel inside—and this can affect the way we relate with others in the world.

For instance, as we age, heaviness can appear in our upper lids and fullness in our lower lids, making us appear tired, sick or older than we are, despite how we feel inside. Others may ask us if we’ve had enough sleep or are feeling well. This can become frustrating and demonstrates the effect our appearance can have on the way others relate to and treat us.

This is true when it comes to both men and women, and although we often think about women having procedures to help their appearance, in recent years more and more men have started seeking help with their appearances and their non-verbal communication. I thought it would be helpful to discuss this in this blog.

The Difference Between Men and Women (Facially)

Men and women tend to age differently. Both can show the effects of sun damage on their faces with age, and both can have issues with their eyelids becoming heavy with age, but the volume loss that occurs in men and women differs.

In women, there is a loss of volume in the temple region and upper face, as well as a narrowing of the lower face region, causing the area around the mouth to lose width. The lower jaw also rotates backwards and leads to the folds we see around the nose and mouth as we age. The lack of support in the skin and soft tissue overlying the bones in this mouth region make this even more noticeable in women. It makes it look like the area around the nose and mouth area smaller than the rest of the face.

Men, in contrast, have an increased width of their skeletons in the lower face with age and a forward rotation of the jaw, which gives men stronger features in the lower face as they get older.

What makes these skeletal differences especially interesting is that this aging process tends to push both men’s and women’s faces into a “male” configuration over time.

Our Appearances Affect All Areas of Our Lives

In today’s competitive work environment, I’ve been seeing more and more men coming into my office for help with their appearances so they can compete better in the workplace against younger peers. They don’t want to be perceived as tired or less vital as a result of the irregular messages their faces are broadcasting for them as a result of aging.

There is even research out there that demonstrates a link between our appearance and our income. Performed at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the research examined the wages of various employees and examined their appearances.¹ What researchers found was that, compared to those employees who had an average appearance, those with an above average appearance earned 5 % more and those with a below average appearance earned 9% less.

This means a person’s appearance can account for a 14% swing in salary, at the two extremes. What researchers demonstrated scientifically is something we all know intrinsically: We are evaluated all the time on what we say, do, and how we look—both in the social world and also in our professional world.

Thankfully, with my techniques, I’m able to help these gentlemen restore their appearances to more a energetic and youthful state.

Treatments of Special Interest to Men

The lower eyelids are one area that especially affects men as they age. Fullness in the lower eyelid region, known as eye bags, and loose skin in the lower lid and cheek, called Festoons, create an appearance of being sick, tired, old or at times even drunk. With my lower eyelid rejuvenation techniques, I can reduce lower lid bags and smooth out the overlying skin, giving men back their youthful, vibrant selves.

The lower eyelids are one area that especially affects men as they age.

Fullness in the lower eyelid region can effect the way others relate to and treat us.

There are techniques that can reduce lower lid bags and smooth out the overlying skin.

Other areas men often seek help with are their upper lids and the frown and smiles lines around the eyes. With my upper eyelid laser surgery techniques, I can uncover heavy upper lids, making them appear brighter and younger. With neuromodulators, I’m able to soften the expression lines between the brows and around the eyes in a non-surgical manner.

Upper lids and smiles lines around the eyes can be treated with laser surgery techniques. 

Finally, for the volume issues and sun damage issues that affect men, I offer a volume replacing and sun spot removing procedure called the RadiantLift®.

RadiantLift® can be used to treat volume and sun damage issues that affect men.

I enjoy what I do and enjoy the fact that I can help both men and women on their quest to Restore, Reveal and Reclaim™ their natural beauty through a broad range of surgical and non-surgical options. Now men don’t have be stuck with appearances that work against them, and they can appear vital and energetic into their older years.


Reference:

1) So Much for That Merit Raise: The Link between Wages and Appearance
By Kristie M. Engemann and Michael T. Owyang
The Regional Economist | April 2005