So you are a guy and you want to make sure you look good as you get older. Maybe when you were 21 and a senior in college you thought Clint Eastwood looked good as he got older. Those lines "built character" and you would never delve into the world of cosmetic procedures. At the same time maybe you would wonder what was up with the old guy out at the bar and wonder why he was embarrassing himself hitting on those younger women.

Then one day you woke up on a Monday morning after a particularily fun weekend and noticed a small line on your forehead. “What is the deal with this?” you thought. At that point, you may have researched some online articles about cosmetic procedures for men. There wasn't a lot out there. It was obvious you don’t want a facelift, your eyes redone or something “crazy”. You are more interested in just some procedures to maintain yourself. That is who this article is directed at.

The best analogy I think for men who seek cosmetic services from our office such as fillers,botox or lasers is that their face is like car. They are not looking to change the Ferrari into a Range Rover but just want to do some maintenance..like an oil change or car wash…just to keep it looking good. They don't want to drive it into the ground. For active men who go out at night, hike or play sports on the weekends and try to stay in great shape, high performance is important. That is true in their social life, personal life, work life, body maintenance and even their appearance. This is the person that this article is directed at.

There are three things that will make you stay looking young as a man. I participate in all three and I firmly believe as a 42 year old surgeon, these help me maintain my appearance through the years. I have been using these products since I was in my early 30s and if I had not i would definitely look older.

Sunblock

90% of aging is sun damage. Period. Yeah, if you smoke its going to be exponentially worse but the sun is going to fry your skin like an egg on a pan. The best way to prevent aging is minimize sun damage. In Colorado, that is really hard to do without a sunblock. Use it every morning when you go to work even if you have a desk job…like brushing your teeth. During the weekends make sure to use it and reapply as needed. If you go to the mountains skiing or hiking doubly make sure. This will definitely prevent lines and aging more than anything else that as a doctor I can do for you. Use an SPF over 40 ideally.

Botox

Botox prevents the development of wrinkles and lines. By paralyzing the muscles that cause lines, these lines fail to develop. Have you ever seen someone with deep lines on their face and forehead? They are caused by the chronic contraction of the muscles are you move your face over and over, day in day out over years. By softening how hard these muscles contract, you can reduce their contraction and delay or even prevent their arrival. The most common area for Botox for my Denver patients are:

Forehead

Between the eyebrows

Corners of the eye

Profractional Laser

Some lasers and skin treatments are what I call “emperor new’s clothes”. These give you a lot of “wow” but two weeks after they are done, you don’t look too different from before. Sciton has several lasers such as Profractional, Halo and Broad Based Light that simply reverse skin aging. These are treatments that have a downtime of anywhere from 2 to 7 days but make a huge difference in skin appearance. All those age spots and discolorations can be evened out with this. Patients who use these lasers stay looking younger longer. That is the truth.

These are the three treatments that I think all men in their thirties who want to remain looking young well into their 50s should include in their face maintenance regiment. You wouldn’t drive your ride 100K miles without changing tires, oil or doing a tune up. Why wouldn’t you do the same thing for your face?