When you think about a typical cosmetic surgery patient, odds are good that you will picture a female patient. There’s good reason for that, as the vast majority of cosmetic surgery patients are female.
In fact, data has shown that anywhere from 85 to 90 percent of cosmetic surgery patients are female. However, the number of men who are interested in cosmetic surgery is growing, particularly for procedures like liposuction.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), its member surgeons performed more than 28,000 liposuction procedures on men during 2017, which represented a 5 percent increase from the almost 27,000 procedures performed in 2016.
Dr. Paul Pin has also seen this trend of increased interest in liposuction among men. Below are some of the most popular areas that male patients wish to target for fat removal.
Face
Both men and women are interested in liposuction to improve their facial features, but there are unique challenges involved in improving the male face that can make liposuction an optimal choice.
Unlike female facial features, which are soft and round, the ideal male features are sharper and more angular. Liposuction of the face and neck often provides better control over how to change the facial planes to produce a more masculine look to the face.
Neck and Chin
Similar to facial structure, the contours of the male neck and chin are also different from those of women. In general, men’s necks have a larger circumference and thicker skin than women. Additionally, men accumulate more fat cells in the chin area.
Dr. Pin can sculpt to the chin to retain an angular, masculine appearance.
Abdomen
Men can also be self-conscious about the appearance of their abdomen. However, there are two significant differences between abdominal fat in men and in women.
Fat cells in the abdominal area accumulate either just below the surface (subcutaneous fat) or deeper in the abdominal cavity, usually around the intestines. Intestinal fat is more fibrous than subcutaneous fat and more difficult to remove.
Men tend to have more subcutaneous fat, which is easier to remove.
Flanks
The flanks sit just above the hip bones. However, the ideal shape for the flanks is different for men. For women, the waist should curve inward.
For men, however, the ideal torso shape should not curve inward at the flanks. Instead, the torso should be an inverse triangle shape, with the chest as the base and the groin as the narrowest point.
To achieve this look, Dr. Pin will remove excess fat cells from the beltline area, all the way around. This will get rid of excess fat and produce the desired inverted triangle shape to the male torso.
Male Breast Reduction
Although overly large breasts are more common in women, the condition (called gynecomastia) can happen in men. True gynecomastia is the result of hormonal imbalance, in which the male body produces more estrogen than testosterone, and the breasts grow in size due to excess glandular tissue.
It can happen as the result of certain types of cancers, illnesses that affect the hormones, or certain types of medication.
Although liposuction may not be very effective for true gynecomastia, it can be an excellent treatment for pseudo-gynecomastia, in which the breasts produce excess fat cells, usually as a result of excess weight.
For this condition, Dr. Pin often uses a technique known as tumescent liposuction, in which he will first inject a combination of a local anesthetic and epinephrine just under the skin. This causes the fat cells to swell and move closer to the surface of the skin, making them easier to remove.
Although the majority of Dr. Pin’s liposuction patients are female, there are clearly a growing number of men who are looking at how they can improve their features with this procedure. Come in for a consultation to see what Dr. Pin might be able to do for you.