Don’t get fooled when you see that brawny hunk walking down the street. He could be sporting bogus muscles without burning the calories by exercising. It’s all about satisfying one’s inflated ego, without working out, to impress friends and women.

Many young men in the UAE are resorting to a new quick-fix solution, according to doctors. They are too lazy to put in some physical effort to build those muscles, so they go for a substance called ‘Macrolane’ which is injected into their bodies. The hormone-less substance is simple and effective.

Macrolane is a much thicker hyaluronic acid gel than usual dermal fillers and is designed for use in the body where larger areas of volume restoration are desired. It is commonly used by women to enlarge and shape certain parts of their bodies like breasts.

KT illustration by Rajendran

It has been noticed that more men in the UAE have been opting for the substance of late to reshape their bodies with rippling muscles.

A person who is taking macrolane injection and did not want to be named, said he does not like to go to a gym, but he is jogging occasionally. He said he went for the injection to augment his arm muscles to make them look “larger and nice” before people.
Sudden interest

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Dr Hassan Galadari, Assistant Professor of Dermatology at UAE University and who is also on the American Board of Dermatology and serves as a consultant dermatologist, said there is a spurt in demand among people in the region towards this kind of injection so as to enhance one’s shape, particularly men. The trend has caught up with young men in the UAE this year.

He said his clinic receives men who come for the injection on a monthly basis. Some women patients make weekly visits.

He pointed out that most of the youth want to reshape their muscles. Some want their arm muscles enlarged while the others want the pectoral muscle to look bigger and well-built.

“Around 95 per cent of my customers are Emiratis,” said Dr Galadari.

The price of a macrolane injection differs depending on the quantity a customer wants his body to be filled with. The cost starts at Dh12,000 and may cross Dh25,000.

The macrolane fluid remains in one’s body approximately for a year-and-a-half, and then dissolves.

“The injection has no adverse reactions,” he noted.

He added macrolane injections have been taken by women around the world for a long time and they are normally used by men in Europe as well.

“Men in the UAE learnt about the injection only recently, for the past six months, so to say,” Dr Galadari said.

He clarified that the macrolane injection is approved by the health authorities in the country. It is already authorised in Europe by the World Health Organisation.

Some customers, who approach his clinic, are bodybuilders. “They sometimes ask me to administer the injection into areas where it is too difficult for them to build muscles.” Some others undergo liposuction to remove fats and then reshape their bodies quickly instead of going for the grind in a gym.

“The macrolane can be injected without any operation and the person can be discharged from the clinic the same day,” he said.
Nay, say bodybuilders

Nonetheless, genuine bodybuilders in the country reject the idea of going in for the injection when they are told about its availability, saying they do not want to be like those who have false muscles. They believe the macrolane injection is a fad which will vanish soon.

The bodybuilders said on the condition of anonymity that they exercise hard in gyms and strictly follow food and protein regimen recommended by experts to build muscles. They are, however, amused at how one could walk in to a clinic and come out with shaped muscles. They claimed they could recognise easily whether a muscle is genuine or not if they could take a close look at the area.