Men and Liposuction – What You Need to Know

It’s natural to want a well-defined, muscular body. That’s why so many of us spend hours of our free time at the gym.

Sometimes, though, a nutritious diet and plenty of the right kinds of exercise just don’t have the desired impact on certain trouble spots. For men these spots are frequently the flanks (love handles), the chest, and the lower abdomen.

In that situation, liposuction can be a great tool to help fine-tune your muscular physique.

How Liposuction Works

It’s really all in the name – lipo means fat, and suction means, well, suction. A hollow needle, called a cannula, is inserted through a small skin incision into the fatty area. It is attached to a vacuum of sorts that sucks the fat out. In a large area this may be done in several places to achieve the best results. Local anesthesia is used to minimize pain.

Who is a Good Candidate for Liposuction?

Men who have fat deposits that are both out of proportion to their body and won’t respond to diet and exercise benefit most from liposuction. In addition, good skin tone in the area is necessary for the best results. If there is much excess skin, liposuction will only exacerbate that issue. Your surgeon will help you decide if liposuction is the best option to get the results you want.

What Kind of Liposuction do Men Typically Pursue?

The Flanks

You’ve dieted, done countless hours of cardio, and lifted weights regularly. Yet those love handles still mock you. It’s common. Liposuction is an excellent choice for men who want to frame their six-pack with lean flanks.

The Lower Abdomen

Regular crunches, twisting crunches, reverse crunches – you’ve done them all. But still your lower abdomen is not leaning out the way you hoped it would. In this situation, a little extra fat in the belly might respond well to liposuction to help you get the look you want.

It is important to be aware that some abdominal fat is intra-abdominal. This means it’s not right under the skin, but inside your abdomen surrounding your organs. Men have a tendency to accumulate fat here, and this is not something that can be helped with liposuction. A discussion with your plastic surgeon can help you understand if this is the case. If it is, a chat with a nutritionist might be worthwhile.

The Chest

Gynecomastia, or over-development of the male breast, is a problem for some men. If the problem is a small one is caused by excess fat deposits in the chest, then liposuction may be an excellent choice to reduce the fat and help show off those pecs. However, glandular breast tissue cannot be removed with liposuction. For men, this tissue often lies just beneath the areola and can be removed with a small incision. If there is significant breast tissue and excess skin present, a procedure called mastopexy is the appropriate choice.

Other Areas

For men, these three areas seem to be the problem spots. But liposuction can do wonders for other body parts, too. The thighs, arms, neck, chin, and many other areas can benefit from the fine-tuning that liposuction offers. If you’ve got extra fat in a specific area that won’t respond to diet and exercise, it’s worth looking into whether or not liposuction can address the problem.

After Liposuction

There may be some swelling, bruising, and soreness for a few days after liposuction. You’ll be able to go home the day of surgery and then spend a few days resting to recover, staying away from taxing activity.

But once you’ve recovered from any swelling and bruising, you’ll be able to see your new physique. These results are permanent unless you do something to affect them, such as gain a significant amount of weight. This means as long as you take good care of yourself, eat right, and maintain your exercise routine, you won’t need to have other procedures to maintain the results from liposuction.

If liposuction sounds like an idea you want to explore further, Dr. Slack would be happy to sit down with you in his Collin County office and discuss your goals. Get in touch now to schedule your consultation.