Is liposuction efficient against love handles ?

Is liposuction efficient against love handles ?

For over 40 years now, liposuction has been one of the most popular cosmetic surgeries. This procedure is the gold standard to remove unwanted and persistant fat deposits that do not respond to exercise and diet. Areas of fat are made of two fat layers.

The deep layer is the one targeted by liposuction to improve body contours. This layer very rarely responds to external factors. The top layer sits on top of a fascia separating both layers. Removing this layer is not recommended by specialists since it can slim down with eating restrictions, exercise, healthy habits and also because its removal with liposuction can cause permanent marks on the skin such as hollows, waves, etc.

Coolsculpting is a more suited approach to decrease the top layer of fat because it does not cause skin irregularities. Liposuction includes this risk when used too close to the skin.

Love handles can develop in women and men, it is one of the most frequent liposuction areas. Those are located in the hips (left and right) and extend in the back. In women, love handles typically become unsightly when they are more prominent than the lower pelvis and saddlebags. In this case, a fat deposit sits on top of the buttock, which is followed by a hollow on the side of the hip and the saddlebags. The S-shaped female figure becomes distorted, which motivates many patients to undergo liposuction surgery.

In men, the goal of liposuction is to achieve a V-shaped upper body with a muscular back and narrower hips (like swimmers). This fat area is usually denser in men and can only be removed with liposuction. Love handles tend to bulge out of men’s pants and can easily be seen when wearing tight fitting shirts, which is often what bothers men.

Liposuction surgery is less invasive than what most people think, but it still requires proper hospitalization (usually 24 hours). Patients can be discharged the next day and sometimes the same day at night. Scars resulting from the procedure are minimal and hidden behind underwear.