CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte medical spa says it's seeing more and more men come in for cosmetic procedures. It's a trend some have termed "bro-tox." 

Rachel White of Infinity MedSpa and Wellness says the procedures inject polylactic acid into skin tissue to stimulate collagen. 

“It is actually something where we’re relying on our patient’s body to produce the goodness, thicken the skin, thicken the tissues and make it stronger and sort of sit better,” White, a physician assistant injector, said. 

White says she’s been seeing men come in for cosmetic procedures almost every day.

“They’re wanting to get in on all of these amazing treatments we offer, that really help us feel great about where we are in this aging process,” she said. 

Bill Diehl was at the spa to get a Sculptra treatment with White. He says he likes the results.  

“When you hear somebody say, man you look younger, there’s something to that. That makes you want to keep on doing it for sure,” Diehl said.  

He got introduced to minimally invasive cosmetic procedures like fillers, Sculptra and botox through his wife. He says there’s a positive difference in how he looks. 

“This has been eye-opening, and the effects are pretty dramatic. The fillers that I've had, I had no lips before I started getting fillers. My lips... They’re not overdone,” Diehl said. 

According to a 2022 report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, cosmetic procedures on men increased 253% since 2019.  

White says there could be a few reasons more men getting this work done.  

“More modern times, social media, love it, but you know love and hate it. In this situation, men are being exposed to just owning their appearance, feeling good about their coming in day to day,” White said. 

But she says the point is to enhance what’s already there and keep facial features masculine on men, not give an entirely new look.

“I’m not as much worried about what a before or after will look like in a month or two. Where are we at in six to eight months? Where is this slow process that’s really truly transformative, but still keeping you appearing just like yourself, just slowing that aging process down,” White said. 

She says she wants clients to feel good about themselves and hopes this isn’t just a trend. 

“I want men to continue to come in and I want the numbers to just continue to rise, because men deserve these treatments, too, if they’re interested. Trends come and go, so hopefully this is just a new way of life for them,” White said.  

Dr. Jennifer Harriger, a psychology professor at Pepperdine University who is a social media and body image expert, says social media plays a role with this trend. 

“When you think about appearance satisfaction related to someone’s face, social media plays a role, because oftentimes what we’re seeing has been edited or filtered. The images or the videos that men and women watch oftentimes are unrealistic, but becomes very normalized and so it’s easy to believe that everyone actually looks that way,” Harriger said. 

A study published by the National Institutes of Health shows people who spent more than three hours on social media often reported feeling dissatisfied with their appearance afterward.  

She says cosmetic procedures allow men to enhance masculine features subtly, and it’s more accepted now. 

“There’s been reduced stigma in our society around these procedures and so as a result, more men are open to the procedures. I think there’s been an increased focus on this anti-aging movement,” Harriger said.