Male 'boob operations' on the rise

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LONDON, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Despite the financial downturn, the number of male breast reductions rose by 80 percent in Britain from 2008 to 2009, plastic surgeons said.

The latest audit figures from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons says the demand for male plastic surgery increased by 21 percent overall, but the number of gynaecomastia, also known as "man boob operations" increased by 80 percent from 2008 to 2009.

However, the report said the number of plastic surgeries for women far outnumbers those of men -- 32,850 procedures were done on women compared to 3,623 on men in 2009.

The report said 36,482 surgical procedures were carried out by members of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in 2009, a 6.7 percent increase from 2008.

Breast augmentation remains the most popular procedure with 8,565 performed in 2009,

up 1 percent from the year before, while breast reduction surgery rose 17 percent from 3522-4122.

Male brow lifts also rose 51 percent, from 72-109, while male face lifts rose by nearly a quarter by 23 percent and male tummy tucks rose 20 percent.