Dr Scott J Turner | Specialist Plastic Surgeon (FRACS) | Sydney
Something has shifted. Men who’d never considered plastic surgery a decade ago are now sitting across from me in consultation asking very specific, well-researched questions. Not “can you make me look younger” — that kind of vague request has largely disappeared. Instead, it’s “I’ve had this bump on my nose since I was 22 and I’d like to know what can realistically be done about it.” Or: “My neck has started bothering me. I look tired in photographs and I don’t feel tired.”
The shift is partly cultural, partly practical, and partly the result of patients doing their homework before they walk through the door. What’s also changed is the regulatory landscape in Australia — 2023 brought meaningful reforms to how cosmetic surgery is accessed and advertised, and those changes affect every man considering a procedure.
Dr Scott J Turner is a Specialist Plastic Surgeon (FRACS) with over a decade of experience in facial surgery, rhinoplasty and breast procedures. His Sydney consulting clinics are in Manly on the Northern Beaches and Bondi Junction in the Eastern Suburbs.
What Procedures Are Men Actually Having?
The honest answer is: a narrower range than you might expect. Most male patients I see are focused on one or two specific things, not a comprehensive overhaul. The pattern is fairly consistent.
Face and neck lift is probably the procedure that surprises men most when they first hear about it — there’s still a lingering idea that facelifts are something women have. That’s changed. The jowl line, the neck, the vertical bands that appear when you turn your head — these are things men notice in their 50s and want to address. The surgical approach for men is genuinely different to what I’d do for a female patient. Male skin is thicker, the underlying muscle layer more robust, and the beard follicles create a richer blood supply that increases the risk of post-operative haematoma. Incision placement matters enormously too — get it wrong and you distort the tragal shape or shift the sideburn. I use the deep plane technique for most male facelift patients.
Rhinoplasty is the other major one. Men tend to come in with a specific structural concern — a dorsal hump they’ve disliked for years, a nose that was broken playing sport, or breathing issues they’ve managed to live with until now. The male nose sits differently from the female nose. The bridge is longer and straighter, the base wider, and the angle between the tip and the upper lip sits between 90 and 95 degrees — lower than in women. If a surgeon applies female rhinoplasty aesthetics to a male patient, the result tends to look wrong in a way the patient can identify even if they can’t quite describe why. Functional rhinoplasty — where there’s a breathing component — may attract a partial Medicare rebate.
Blepharoplasty, meaning eyelid surgery. Upper eyelid hooding, or under-eye bags that have become a permanent fixture regardless of how much sleep you’re getting. Men have a lower brow position and different orbital fat distribution than women, which means the margin for over-correction is small. Too much tissue removed and the result looks hollowed out and distinctly feminine. I take a conservative approach. Where eyelid skin is causing documented visual field obstruction, upper blepharoplasty may be eligible for a partial Medicare rebate.
Gynaecomastia surgery — the enlargement of male breast glandular tissue — affects more men than most people realise. It’s a common condition and, for men who’ve had it for years, surgery can be genuinely significant. The procedure combines glandular excision with liposuction and in some cases meets the criteria for a partial Medicare rebate.
The 2023 Regulations: What Changed and Why It Matters
On 1 July 2023, AHPRA introduced significant reforms to how cosmetic surgery is accessed in Australia. I’d encourage any man considering a procedure to understand what these changes actually mean before booking anything.
The requirements now are:
A GP referral before your first specialist consultation. This isn’t just a formality — it may also make you eligible for a Medicare partial rebate on the consultation fee itself, and it’s required for any procedure-related rebates to apply.
A minimum of two personal consultations with the operating surgeon before any decision is made.
A psychological assessment.
A mandatory cooling-off period between your final consultation and proceeding to surgery.
The intent is patient protection — to slow down a process that, in some settings, had become too fast. What this also means practically is that any surgeon bypassing these steps isn’t compliant with current regulations. I’d treat that as a red flag. In my practice, all consultations are conducted personally, the GP referral comes first, and the psychological assessment and cooling-off period are part of the standard pre-operative process without exception.
Why Male Anatomy Actually Requires a Different Approach
I get asked fairly regularly whether a man can just have the “same” procedure as a female patient. The answer is no, and it matters.
Start with skin. Male facial skin is thicker and more sebaceous than female skin. This changes how tissue responds to dissection, how long post-operative swelling persists, and how scars mature. Then there’s the blood supply. Beard hair follicles mean the face has a richer vascular network, which makes haematoma — blood pooling under the skin — a more significant risk in men than in women. For facelift surgery specifically, the haematoma rate in men is roughly 1 in 10, versus around 1 in 100 in female patients. That difference demands specific blood pressure management protocols before and after surgery.
For the nose, proportions are the issue. A nasal tip angle that looks correct on a female patient would read as over-rotated on a man. The nasolabial angle, bridge height, and the way the tip relates to the upper lip all follow different parameters. Male rhinoplasty performed without attention to these differences often looks fine in the abstract but wrong in context — the result doesn’t quite sit right with the rest of the face.
Eyelid surgery brings its own version of the same problem. Remove too much from the upper eyelid and you get a hollow, feminine look that can’t be undone. Conservative tissue removal and careful preservation of orbital fat aren’t optional in male blepharoplasty — they’re the difference between a result that reads as appropriate and one that doesn’t.
None of this is exotic. It’s just anatomy. But it does mean that specific experience operating on male patients is a reasonable thing to ask about before you commit to a surgeon.
Finding a Qualified Surgeon in Australia
Worth knowing: “cosmetic surgeon” is not a protected title in Australia. Any registered medical practitioner can legally use it. The protected specialist qualification is “Specialist Plastic Surgeon,” which requires completion of the Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in plastic surgery — a qualification that demands years of supervised postgraduate surgical training beyond a medical degree.
Before committing to a surgeon, it’s worth checking a few things. Do they hold FRACS (Plast)? This is verifiable on the AHPRA register at ahpra.gov.au. Do they have a focused surgical practice rather than a generalist one? Are all consultations conducted personally — or are they conducted by a coordinator with the surgeon appearing only briefly? And are the GP referral, psychological assessment and cooling-off period part of their actual process?
My own practice is concentrated exclusively on cosmetic surgery, with a particular focus on the face and nose. I’ve held FRACS in plastic and reconstructive surgery since 2013.
What Happens at a First Consultation
The first appointment isn’t a sales meeting. It’s an assessment.
I’ll take a history, look at what you’re actually dealing with anatomically, and tell you honestly which procedures may be relevant — including whether I think surgery is the right option at all. Not every concern benefits from an operation. Sometimes the honest answer is that the concern is minor enough that surgery isn’t warranted, or that the anatomy is such that achievable improvement is limited. That conversation is more useful to a patient than one that’s optimised to book a procedure.
You’ll leave with clinical photographs taken for planning purposes, an explanation of the procedure or procedures I’d recommend, a realistic picture of risks and recovery, and a written quote covering all fees.
A second consultation is required before anything is decided. That’s partly regulatory, but it’s also just good practice — it gives you time to sit with the information, think about whether you want to proceed, and come back with any questions.
Consultations are available in Sydney (Manly and Bondi Junction), Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast and Newcastle. You’ll need a GP referral before your first appointment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is male plastic surgery more common now than it was ten years ago?
Yes, meaningfully so. The most common procedures for men are eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty, face and neck lift, and gynaecomastia surgery, and all of these have grown as a proportion of overall volume over the past decade. The profile of the male patient has also changed — men tend to arrive better informed, with specific concerns rather than vague goals, and with more realistic expectations about what surgery may address. What’s driven that shift is harder to pin down precisely. Greater general awareness, more visible public discussion, and a generation of men who are more comfortable researching medical procedures than their fathers were.
Do I need a GP referral before seeing Dr Turner?
Yes, and it’s worth getting one before you do anything else. Under AHPRA regulations effective 1 July 2023, a GP referral is required before your first specialist consultation for any cosmetic procedure. The referral is valid for 12 months. It may also make you eligible for a partial Medicare rebate on the consultation fee, and it’s required for any procedure-related rebates — functional rhinoplasty, upper blepharoplasty for visual field obstruction, gynaecomastia — to apply.
Will people be able to tell I’ve had surgery?
That depends on the procedure, the extent of correction, and the recovery timeline. For facelift and eyelid surgery, most men report that people notice they look well or rested without identifying surgery as the cause. Rhinoplasty is different — there’s a nasal cast and visible swelling during recovery, and the process of swelling resolving takes up to twelve months. The goal in male surgery is never to dramatically alter the face. The objective is a version of your own face that’s consistent with your anatomy, not a different set of features.
What should I ask at a consultation?
A few questions worth having prepared: What procedure or combination do you recommend for my specific concerns, and why? What technique will you use? What are the realistic risks given my anatomy and health? What does week-by-week recovery look like, and when can I return to work and exercise? What’s included in the quoted fee and what might add to it? How often do you perform this procedure on male patients specifically? And what’s the process if I’m unhappy with the outcome?
How do I book a consultation?
Get a GP referral first — it’s required and it’s the most practical first step. Once you have it, contact Dr Turner’s practice to book at whichever location suits you. Consultations are available in Sydney (Manly and Bondi Junction), Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast and Newcastle. The consultation fee is $450, payable when you book.
Book a Consultation
To discuss your concerns with Dr Scott J Turner, contact the practice. A GP referral is required before your first appointment.
View male procedures | About Dr Scott J Turner
This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. All surgical procedures carry risks and individual outcomes vary. A comprehensive consultation with Dr Scott J Turner is required to assess your suitability for any procedure and to discuss risks, alternatives and realistic expectations specific to your circumstances.
