Looking at photographs of the surgical hair transplants he started four years ago, Elizabethtown, Ky., florist Gregg Durnil had a revelation.

        “I was real pleased with the results,” says Mr. Durnil, 43. “But then I noticed how bad my eyes looked. I says, what the heck, I guess I'm going to have an eye job.”

        For about $3,000, which covered the doctor's fee and an overnight hospital stay, Mr. Durnil got blepharoplasty, or eyelid surgery, two years later.

        “They did the best job, it's just amazing,” he says. “Got rid of that hood on my upper lids, which were drooping, and then the fat pockets on the bottom. They sucked all that out and it looks great. I have eyelids again.

        “I'm dealing with kids going to proms, young brides and that type of thing, and I don't want to look like their father, although I'm old enough,” Mr. Durnil says by way of explanation. “So it's something I did for myself, to boost my self-esteem in a youth-oriented business.”

        No longer are signs of aging thought to confer character on a man. Guys such as Mr. Durnil, determined to look their best in a culture obsessed with appearances, are now getting nose jobs, face lifts, tummy tucks and other procedures in record numbers.

CHOOSING A SURGEON

If you are seeking a plastic surgeon:   • Ask how long the surgeon has been in practice and how many plastic surgeries she or he has performed.   • Can the surgeon do the operation in a hospital or surgical center, not just in the office?   • Get a second opinion. Get names and numbers of satisfied patients. Be completely comfortable with the doctor you choose.   • Is the doctor certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgeons, or other professional organizations? There are several academies and professional groups. For specialties like facial surgery, see if doctors belong to the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.   • Search www.plasticsurgery.org, the Web site of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and Plastic Surgery Education Foundation.   • Most procedures aren't covered by insurance, so consider the total bill, including surgeon's fee, cost of the facility where the surgery is done and any recovery expense.

        More than 200,000 men had some form of cosmetic surgery in 1999, according to the latest figures from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, with eyelid operations on men up 15 percent, breast reductions up 47 percent and liposuction up 87 percent since 1997.

        Another industry group, the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgeons, reports the number of men having liposuction has tripled since 1994, and the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery says that, since 1996, 30 percent of patients requesting face lifts have been men.

        Most men keep their surgeries confidential, says Dr. Thomas J. Haas, whose practice has grown to be 25 percent male since 1990. “Generally, men want to keep their plastic surgery more quiet,” Dr. Haas, who practices in Louisville, says. “Ten years ago . . . if they did it, they didn't want anybody to know. But that's changing, too.”

        “There's an overall wider acceptance among men and women, but especially men,” says Dr. Brad Calobrace, who performed Durnil's operations. Men make up about 25 percent of his patients.

        “Men care about their appearance and want to look younger,” Dr. Calobrace says.

        “But I don't think having cosmetic surgery follows that macho image we have of men, and they tend to be more private about it than women.”

        Face lifts usually cost about $5,000, liposuction $1,000 to $10,000, depending on the technique and amount of body sculpting, and eyelid work goes for $1,500 to $4,500. Don't like your nose? For about $3,500 you can put a new one on your credit card.

        “It's a lifestyle decision,” says Dr. Donn R. Chatham, a facial specialist with offices in Louisville and New Albany, Ind. “We are talking about the boomer generation and a little older as well, still in the work force, who want to look fresh. People who are maybe in the dating game again want to be attractive and aren't ready to look like their parents. You hear that a lot. And they have the financial means to do something for themselves.”

        Paul Cady, a 42-year-old actor and real-estate broker who lives in Los Angeles, says colleagues reacted differently toward him after his liposuction, and he credited his younger-looking physique for a small but upgraded role on the TV soap opera General Hospital.

        “I was one of the guys in the background,” he says, “but afterward I was made a bartender, with the opportunity to have lines in the future. Overall it's made me feel more confident about myself, and I think that comes across to everybody else.”

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