With men making up nearly ten percent of last year’s total plastic surgery procedures, it’s becoming increasingly common for your average American male to consider undergoing a cosmetic procedure, especially as he gets older. Many men in their 40’s and 50’s may turn to plastic surgery to appear stronger, more masculine and more youthful.
But as the New York Times reports, many men might not know exactly what procedure could be right for them. The answer is, quite often, chin augmentation.
The surgeons interviewed by the New York Times gave varying answers as to why chin augmentation is increasing in popularity. One pointed to the prominence of square-jawed superheroes on the silver screen. Strong chins connote virility and masculinity. Chin augmentation can target a weak chin or sagging jowls on the lower half of the face and create a squarer, more chiseled jaw. This type of work has been on the rise for the past few years, though the specifics of each procedure vary from patient to patient.
For the most part, though, the impetus for getting a chin implant seems to come from the workplace. As men get older, they want to retain their youthful appearance in order to avoid the feeling of being “aged out.” Chin augmentation represents a minimally invasive, subtle way to restore that look of vitality.
Interestingly, this trend is supported by statistics. Darrick Antell, a plastic surgeon in New York, found that 90 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs had “nonreceding-to-prominent chins,” while only 40 percent of the total US population could say the same.