LOS ANGELES, Oct 23 — Yes, this — ahem — growing trend in male cosmetic surgery is exactly what you think it is. Men looking to make their testicles appear larger as well as decrease sweating and wrinkling in the area are shelling out between US$1,500 (RM6,000) and US$3,000 for botulism toxin injections done directly into the skin of the scrotum. As with all Botox, effects last for three to six months.

Saturday Night Live spoofed the treatment in 2010, but it’s no joke now. Beverly Hills-based surgeon Jason Emer performs the procedure a few times a week and links its rise in popularity to the booming women’s genital plastic surgery market.

Andrew Ordon, board-certified plastic surgeon and Emmy-nominated co-host of The Doctors, agrees. "This year, there was a huge trend in vaginal rejuvenation,” says Ordon, who also is an assistant clinical professor of plastic surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "It is clear that we are going to be seeing more done on men’s private areas, for men wanting smoothing down there.” Most offices that perform the procedure offer a topical numbing cream, he adds, so "pain-wise it really isn’t that bad.” — The Hollywood Reporter/Bloomberg

*This story first appeared in the November 4 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.