More men are getting nipped and tucked.

Trying to maintain an edge in a youth-dominated workplace or simply yielding to the call of vanity, a growing number of male patients are turning to cosmetic procedures to lift droopy necks, smooth out wrinkles, excise body fat or pin back ears, reports Laura Landro in todays WSJ. (The number of Botox injections for men, for instance, rose 9% to 337,000 in 2010, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.)

One psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Human Appearance told Landro that in recent years, for both sexes, cosmetic procedures have come to be viewed over the last decade as an investment in health and well-being, just like diet and exercise. It also helps that many procedures that once required a hospital stay are now done on an outpatient basis, with less time needed for recovery. Moreover, many men are influenced by the slew of media images of super masculine, toned and muscular men, social psychologists say. (Last weeks episode of the hit comedy Modern Family featured a plot line in which Jay Pritchett, the familys macho 60-something patriarch, attempted to get Botox to look more age-appropriate for his hot, much-younger wife. Unfortunately, the Botox job went awry and his droopy eyelid made him look more like a zombie.)

Landros article got me thinking about cosmetic procedures in general. I have a number of (female) friends in their 30s, and younger, who have had cosmetic surgery, such as nose jobs or breast enhancements, or other procedures, such as Botox. Ive never been under the knife (except for laser eye surgery, which was partly prompted by vanity) and have never been a fan of the overly smoothed out, puffed up look -- but frankly, who knows how Ill feel 20 years from now when I look in the mirror and see a much more wrinkly and saggy version of me?

I was also intrigued by the story's suggestion that some men may be getting plastic surgery to try to keep up in the workplace, especially as many companies, such as tech firms, place a heavy premium on youth. I've written before about how I, in my 30s, have started to feel old in my company, as tech-savvy 20-somethings with fire in their bellies fill cubicles. But I don't necessarily think that surgical enhancement is the way to get ahead. I'd rather brush up on my skills and boost my productivity than smooth out my skin. Then again, as a print journalist, there's not a huge premium placed on appearances in my profession.