New statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) reveals that despite a weak economy, the number of men investing in a mid-life nip-tuck is on the rise.

For Joe Marek, 57, getting a Male Facelift was more about looking as good as he felt than about trying to turn back the clock.

“I’m more active than most people my age. I don’t feel old, I feel good, but people were coming up to me and saying, ‘You look tired. You look run down.’ I got tired of it,” Marek says.

Marek isn’t shy about talking about his procedure and says that if any of his male friends called him out for being a “wuss” for going under the knife, he wouldn’t care. “A lot of people I talk to about it, I end up finding out that they’ve thought about it themselves,” he says.

A recent study from UCLA found that 23% of men were considering Plastic Surgery, though only a fraction of them will every act on it. Women on the other hand, are more than eight times as likely to act on a desire to go under the knife than men are.

The baby boomers are living longer, healthier lives than their parents did. 65-year-olds then were grandparents, today they are climbing mountains and running marathons. They’re concerned about their appearance.

Many Plastic Surgeons are seeing increasing numbers of men coming into their offices, not only for body sculpting procedures, traditionally more common for men, but for facial enhancements such as Facelifts, BOTOX^®, and facial fillers. In the past year alone, the number of men seeking a facelift jumped 14%, according to ASPS data.

And the recession doesn’t seem to be hindering this trend, it’s helping it: “I get men out of work who want to look younger because they’re competing with guys 20 years their junior for jobs. That’s a very different attitude towards surgery than we’ve seen in the past,” says Dr. Phil Haeck, ASPS President.

Grandpa Gets a Nip/Tuck

 The Plastic Surgery industry was hit hard by the recession, as most people were no longer willing to spend on the “luxury goods” of cosmetic procedures. Now it seems that the market is rebounding, with the number of total cosmetic procedures up 5 % in the last year. The distribution of those procedures isn’t what it used to be however, with men accounting for a growing proportion of invasive and non-invasive cosmetic procedures. In 2008, only 8% of procedures were done on men, but as of 2010, that proportion had risen to 13 percent, according to ASPS data.

“I think there’s a social change here,” says Haeck. “I think it’s just as acceptable for men to have Plastic Surgery. Every men’s magazine focuses on looking fit and looking good. Men are willing to try out skin care products and it’s not thought of as gay — it’s opened up a whole new world of possibilities to guys.”

There are several Plastic Surgery reality shows that show ordinary men undergoing Male Facelifts. Men are motivated when they see individuals like themselves having surgery, not just celebrities.

Being a competitive candidate in the job market may also be affecting some men’s decisions to go under the knife. Several unemployed men are scheduling appointments with Plastic Surgeons, seeking to look younger fast, because they believe this will help them seem younger when they on job interviews.

And if looking fit has become another job qualification for some men, the Male Facelift becomes extremely appealing.

“Women aspired to have Barbie’s figure for years. Men are just now catching up to Ken,” Haeck says.