A record 1.3 million men received plastic surgery in 2019, slightly under 10% of all plastic surgeries performed nationwide. Botox in particular has experienced a meteoric explosion in popularity among men. The popular injectable spiked fourfold between 2019 and 2020 alone. The nation’s big cities are in the middle of this huge boom, and it’s not just reserved for the ultra-wealthy in Beverly Hills anymore. Today, big cities across the U.S. are hubs for plastic surgeons, with Chicago being the newest addition to that list.
A Steady Increase in Male Plastic Surgery
This increase has reportedly been ongoing for years. The total amount of procedures conducted in the Midwest and the yearly nationwide averages of procedures done on men have steadily increased year after year. In 2019, about 206,000 men in the Midwest received plastic surgery, cracking the 200k threshold and skyrocketing up from the approximately 186,000 men in the region who received plastic surgery in 2018. Overall, the region spent over $15 million on male plastic surgery in 2019.
As for why plastic surgery has become so popular, there are several reasons. For one, with the rise of photography and ease of video calls, people are able to see what they look like more and more. The “Zoom Boom” has had an effect on how men in big cities reflect on their appearance.
Ultimately, plastic surgery has finally shed the stigma it was once known for. In the 1990s, people receiving plastic surgery would try to slink out the back door. Today, people sit in the recovery room on their phones, taking photos of their healing process and sending them out to their friends. Additionally, with advancements in technology, many procedures (including minimally-invasive techniques) present more affordable options.
Male Plastic Surgery Experts Are Opening in the City
Chicago has garnered attention from some of the nation’s leading plastic surgeons specializing in male aesthetics. Dr. Douglas S. Steinbrech—named by Forbes as the “go-to surgeon for men”—has even recently expanded his practice, Alpha Male Plastic Surgery, to the Windy City.
Dr. Steinbrech is one of many surgeons in the field entering the booming Chicago market. Never before has there been such an increase in male plastic surgery, which in the Midwest especially has skyrocketed since the mid-2000s. According to Dr. Steinbrech, patients from Chicago have actively been using Dr. Steinbrech’s fly-in program to travel to his New York office. Dr. Steinbrech and his team started up in New York in 2013 and after much success, expanded to Beverly Hills several years later.
“Why Chicago? I’m a Midwesterner. We have had such great success in New York and Beverly Hills,” Dr. Steinbrech said. “We’ve been so happy with the great transformations we’ve been able to make for our patients. We think we can help people in the Midwest.”
The Alpha Male Plastic Surgery Group opened its Chicago office earlier this month and will begin taking patients effective March 1, 2021. The office is located at 737 N Michigan Ave., Suite 2140, across the road from the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
