Aesthetic treatment for men: what is different, and what is not

Men are a growing proportion of aesthetic patients and are still frequently treated as though the same protocol simply applies at the same dose. It does not, and the differences are worth understanding whichever side of the couch you are on.

What genuinely differs

Muscle mass

Male facial muscles — particularly the frontalis, corrugators and masseter — are typically larger and stronger. The practical consequence is that men usually require meaningfully higher doses of botulinum toxin to achieve the same effect.

Treating a man at a standard female dose is one of the more common reasons for a disappointing result and an unfair conclusion that the treatment does not work.

Brow position

The aesthetic conventions differ. A male brow generally sits lower and flatter; a lifted, arched brow reads as feminising. This changes injection placement substantially, not just quantity.

This is a placement skill rather than a product one. It is fair to ask a practitioner how often they treat men.

Skin thickness and vascularity

Male skin is on average around 20 percent thicker with a denser dermal collagen network, and facial hair brings greater vascularity. Practically: bruising is somewhat more likely, and treatment depths may need adjusting.

The thicker dermis is also why male skin tends to age slightly later but then more abruptly — the structural decline is steeper once it starts.

Hair loss patterns

Male pattern loss follows a recognisable progression — temples, then crown. The PRP principle is identical to women's, and so is the timing rule: it works on follicles that are still alive, so acting early is the whole game.

What men actually come in for

1. Hair. Consistently the most common. Usually later than would have been ideal.
2. Looking tired. Under-eye hollowing and general fatigue in the face, often framed as a work problem rather than an appearance one.
3. Jaw tension. Masseter treatment for clenching and grinding, frequently arriving via a dentist rather than by choice.
4. Frown lines. Specifically the vertical lines between the brows, which read as permanently annoyed.
5. Skin. Congestion, texture and the aftermath of years of no routine at all.

What does not differ

The consultation, the prescribing requirements, the aftercare, the risks and the principle of restraint are identical. So is the most common concern — the fear of looking done — which men express just as often and usually more anxiously.

The natural-results principles apply without modification.

Realistic starting points

The shaving question

Practical points that come up often:

• Shave before a facial, ideally the evening before rather than the morning of. Freshly shaved skin is mildly abraded.
• Do not shave for 24 hours after microneedling, resurfacing or any treatment that disrupts the barrier.
• Beard area treatments need care — ingrown hairs and folliculitis complicate resurfacing, and should be settled first.
• Facial hair does not prevent injectable treatment, though it can make marking slightly less precise.

On the anxiety about it

A reasonable proportion of male patients arrive apologetic, or frame the appointment as somebody else's idea. Worth saying plainly: it is an ordinary thing to want to look less tired, and a clinic worth attending will treat the appointment as unremarkable.

Consultations here are private, no photographs leave the clinic without written consent, and nothing about the treatment is visible to anyone who is not told about it.