More than 50 years ago, cosmetic surgery was talked about in hushed whispers. There was nothing bad about it. Somehow, it just felt wrong to fool around with the body that God gave you. But times have changed. It has been changing since the beginning.

Surgery to change our appearance, or plastic or cosmetic surgery, has been with us for thousands of years. By 2000 BC, primitive plastic surgery techniques were being used in India. These techniques spread slowly. It reached the Middle East only in 750 AD, and it spread quickly to Europe. The Romans and Ancient Egyptians also practiced it. Interest in this form of surgery was rekindled in the late 18th century. However, it was only in the twentieth century that modern plastic and cosmetic surgery took shape.

In a way, cosmetic surgery has always been for men. Modern cosmetic surgery techniques were created with men in mind. They were first developed and tested during the huge wars that uprooted the entire world, World War I and II. Those two wars unleashed horrific weapons that killed, injured and disfigured many people. Do our soldiers, our heroes, deserve to live their lives with their nose blown away by gunfire?  How does one help a man whose face was burned away by napalm? How could a doctor heal permanent scars? To cure the incurable, science and medicine fought back with cosmetic surgery for men.

Reconstructive cosmetic surgery proved popular in wars but the procedure did not have a purely wartime function.  Do you suffer from a cleft lip? Do you have an old permanent scar from the time you fell from a tree? Let cosmetic surgery handle it.

It was only a short jump away before the procedure was used to enhance one’s appearance. Are you too fat? Are wrinkles crawling all over your skin and face? Is your nose flat and wide? The techniques that removed scars, reconstructed noses and replaced burned skin in war were used to make a person prettier.

Women were the first to take full advantage of cosmetic surgery. They were under more pressure to improve their appearance. But as time moved on, men felt the pressure too. The American male grooming market is now worth more than $3.5 billion. Men have realized that a healthy dynamic appearance is not only attractive; it opens career opportunities as well. Cosmetic surgery for men and women became an accepted fact of life. It was no longer something to hide.

Male cosmetic surgery is on the rise. In 2008 alone, there were 1.1 million cosmetic surgeries performed on men. It has risen steadily since 2001 according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. In fact, male cosmetic surgery earns $12.2 billion per year.

More and more men are turning to cosmetic surgery to improve their appearance. Talking about undergoing it no longer undermines a man’s masculinity. Every man wants to become all that he can be. Male cosmetic surgery can help him on that path.