One of the most active locations worldwide for cosmetic surgery is the Middle East. Iran, for instance, leads the world in the number of rhinoplasties performed. On the streets of large Iranian cities, it is very common to see both men and women walking in public with nose guards on to protect the delicate work of the many rhinoplasty surgeons.
(Read more about Middle Eastern nose jobs performed in Beverly Hills.)
Now another cosmetic surgical technique is attracting many more Middle Eastern men: mustache implants. (Continued below.)
_______________________________________________________________________ Middle Eastern and Mediterranean noses are often long and sometimes drop to touch the lips as in the patient below and left. In the after picture, right, note how — with no change in the shape of the nostrils — nose surgery has resulted in a more youthful look. (Robert Kotler, MD, photo)
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(Continued.) According to CNN, not every mustache in the Middle East is full, bushy and handsome. One Turkish cosmetic plastic surgeon reports the number of mustache implants has vastly increased during the last several years so that surgeon now performs 50 to 60 such procedures monthly.
The procedure has become more popular because luxurious, full mustaches lend an aura of maturity, wisdom, dignity and virility. Thus, many junior men in the Middle East want a fuller mustache to look more mature.
Mustache augmentation is done the same as hair transplantation is done in the U.S., through a technique known as follicular unit extraction. While under a local anesthetic (only the area under treatment has been numbed,) groups of hairs are taken from areas where the patient has plenty and transplanted to the patient’s upper lip.
Most patients according to plastic surgeons in France and Turkey are between 30 and 50 and are able to return home the next day. Politicians and actors often request the procedure.
However, those patients must skip shaving for ten days and usually see a fuller mustache in about six months. Cosmetic procedure cost is about $7000.