For anyone who’s met him IRL, it will come as zero surprise that eternally youthful New York cosmetic dermatologist Paul Jarrod Frank has dabbled in a nonsurgical aesthetic service or two.
“What treatments haven’t I done is really the question,” he says, ticking off a list that includes wrinkle-zapping injectables, multiple generations of sun damage-obliterating Fraxel lasers and skin-tightening Ultherapy. Yes, the 54-year-old skin doc has also gone under the knife — for his eyes — but mostly he’s all about maintaining a vigorously healthy lifestyle balanced by what’s on offer at his two Manhattan offices.
And in this dabbling with “tweakments,” Frank is joined by scores of other tristate guys. “Since men are often looking for quick fixes with low recovery time, they comprise an ever-increasing patient population,” he notes, adding that the rise coincides with steady advancements in minimally invasive technology and procedures. “They don’t have downtime for complicated regimens, maintenance or recoveries.”
Howard Sobel, a clinical dermatological surgeon at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital, has also seen more dudes darkening his private-practice doorstep of late. “There’s been an uptick in male tweakments,” he says. “I believe social media has contributed to this. Everyone’s concerned about how they look — and social media doesn’t let you hide.”
At his New York office, Sobel fields frequent requests for help with balding. “Men have always lived in fear of losing their hair,” he says. “One of the most popular treatments I do is with the Alma TED (transepidermal delivery) device. It’s a noninvasive hair restoration option that’s painless, and results can be seen after a few treatments. They stimulate hair growth, decrease loss and increase thickness, and it’s a simple treatment without needles that takes about 20 minutes.”
Not that Sobel’s male patients have a fear of needles. “They’re totally on the Botox bandwagon,” he says. “I treat almost as many men as I do women at this point.”
Frank says that when it comes to injectable neuromodulators for his male patients, less is more. “I think the most important thing for men, which is different from women, is that they’re not so concerned with every little wrinkle,” he notes. “Men want to maintain motion.”
To that end, Frank favors Xeomin over Botox for his guy clients. “There are neuromodulators like Xeomin that are less potent than name-brand Botox, so they’re not going to give men a frozen flat forehead,” he says. “In fact, I often recommend a 50% reduction in wrinkles in men to preserve motion and so they can still express themselves but look less tired and stressed.”
Plastic surgeon Jason Diamond, who splits his time between Beverly Hills and NYC, offers male patients a raft of proprietary minimally invasive techniques to stop the clock. One, dubbed Diamond Facial Sculpting, is a big hit with the testosterone pack.
“Men want to look their best and are more aware of how bone structure and structural contour improve their aesthetic,” says Diamond. “With my Diamond Facial Sculpting technique, I’m able to improve facial balance and bone to soft tissue ratio nonsurgically while making it look natural, which is important to me and my male patients.”
As for tweakments this trio of high-profile NYC docs doesn’t recommend? The list includes the injectable “double chin” treatment Kybella, hopping a flight to Turkey for a budget hair transplantation and generally going overboard with any treatment.
“I find that the general aesthetic vibe for men in the tristate area is about exuding vitality,” says Frank. “Men want to appear fresh, vital, masculine — and not overdone.”
