Liposculpture Guide

While increasing numbers of male liposculpture patients are found in cosmetic surgery clinics all over the country (or world, for that matter!), it’s no secret that by far the largest customer base of the surgeon is that of the female gender. Women make up the vast majority of patients receiving liposculpture treatments, and all cosmetic procedures in general, over their male counterparts.

In 2008 alone, the United Stated saw roughly 330,000 patients receiving liposuction. Of this number, about 30,000 can be attributed to men and the remaining 300,000 procedures were performed on women.

What are the most popular areas of the body to be treated with liposuction for women as opposed to men?

The answer varies depending on which survey is consulted, but it seems that the following procedures always make it to the top of the list.

1. Thigh Liposculpture
Thigh liposculpture removed fat and tightens the skin in the area around the thighs. Many women opt for this procedure.

2. Buttocks Liposculpture
Along with the thights, improvements to the buttocks is a very popular liposculpture procedure for women to get.

3. Abdominal Liposculpture
Another popular option in women as it is for men, having fat removed from the abdominal area is a popular choice.

4. Breast Reduction
While breast augmentation is also hugely popular, it’s a different type of cosmetic surgery than liposculpture. When it comes to the breast area, liposculpture works to reduce the size of the breasts. Many women have this done for health concerns that relate to having disproportionately large breasts.

5. Arm Liposculpture
This type of liposculpture targets excess fat that accumulates in the upper arms. This is sometimes informally referred to as bat wings. Having this fat removed from the arms, and having the skin tightened in the same areas, is a very popular choice amongst female cosmetic surgery patients.

These 5 procedures, covering the breasts, arms, buttocks, abs, and thighs, are very popular choices for women seeking the services of a liposculpture doctor. As mentioned, according to ASAPS, last year saw over a quarter of a million women use liposuction services. This trend will surely continue as women leverage all the available options to improve their body, reduce the effects of aging, and generally just look for methods to look great at any age.

In 2008, over 30,000 men received lipoplasty procedures. Lipoplasty – also called liposuction or liposculpture – was the number one procedure for men when it came to top surgical cosmetic procedures, followed by rhinoplasty (also informally known as a “nose job”) with just slightly over 30,000 procedures too.

While this number pales in comparison to the 300,000 liposculpture treatments performed on women in the same year, it’s no secret that men are beginning to utilize cosmetic surgery and similar aesthetic procedures to improve their looks.

What are the most popular liposculpture procedures for men?

1. Abdominal Liposculpture
The abs have always been a prized area of the male body insofar as muscles and looks go. For this reason, abdominal liposculpture is a popular choice amongst men, and will likely remain this way.

2. Breast Reduction
Some are surprised to learn that one of the most popular surgical procedures for men is to reduce the size of the male breasts. This relates to a condition known as gynecomastia, or more popularly known as “man boobs”.

3. Flanks or Lovehandles
The flanks or lovehandles have become synonymous with men as they age. Of course, they are not usually considered aesthetically pleasing, and so the reduction or removoval of fat around the waist in order to get rid of love handles is one of the most popular cosmetic surgery procedures for men insofar as liposculpture goes.

The above 3 procedures – work on the abs, man boobs, love handles, are the 3 areas men as most likely to target through the use of surgical technique like liposculpture.

The fat on the male body is different than that of the fat on the female body. It actually tends to be more fibrous, which can make it harder to remove using standard lipo techniques. Because of this, many times when men use liposculpture services the surgeons implement a technique name as vaser liposculpture. Vaser lipo, also known as vaser liposuction or vaser liposelection, uses an ultrasound laser which is better at targeting the fibrous fat of the male body. This is especially true in an area like the back, which naturally contains the fibrous body fat that responds well to Vaser liposuction.

Additionally, one other aspect to note in regards to men and liposuction is that it often costs more on average for a male to have these procedures than a women. This is only because of this difference in fat. Fibrous fat is harder to remove and so the services can accordingly cost the male patient more than a female patient whose body fat is easier to remove!

Despite claims to the contrary, liposuction no longer holds the reigning title as the king (or queen) of cosmetic surgery procedures. As of 2008, it’s no longer true that liposculpture, or liposuction, is the most popular non invasive cosmetic surgery procedure performed in the United States of America.

In May of 2009, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, more informally known as ASAPS, released their annual survey on surgery trends from over 15,000 surgeons. The year 2008 marked the 12th year they’d been doing such a survey and tracking numbers for such things.

This survey reported a number of interesting changes and trends in the cosmetic surgey world. Here’s a few of the highlights you might be interesting in, such as:

• 2008 was the first year in which there was more than a 10% drop in the amount of plastic surgeries performed. This was the first time this had happened since 2002, 6 years ago.
• Despite the drop in overall numbers, 2008 still saw a total of over 10 million cosmetic procedures (this includes both surgical and non surgical cosmetic procedures)
• This number is approximately a million less than their report showed the previous year in 2007
• Despite the decrease in the number of customers, overall the industry reported over 12 billion dollars in income still.

For an industry like cosmetic surgery / plastic surgery to exist right now in a bad US economy, who is able to report a 10% drop in its customer base yet still report 12 billion dollars if income is amazing.

The survey goes on to report the most popular cosmetic surgeries. Let’s take a look them now. Here are the top 5 surgical cosmetic procedures:

1. Breast Augmention
Breast augmentation is a surgical procedure to change the size and shape of the breasts. This typically translates to the use of silicone and saline breast implants.

2. Liposuction (liposculpture)
Liposuction involves having fat removed from the body, along with body sculpting and skin tightening in the treatment area.

3. Eyelid Surgery
Eyelid surgery is done to remove fat, skin, and muscle from the eyelids. This is sometimes described as fixing drooping eyelids. The technical name for this surgery is called blepharoplasty.

4. Rhinoplasty
Rhinoplasty is more popularly known as a nose job.

5. Abdominoplasty
Abdominoplasty involved removing extra skin in the stomach and often tightening the abdominal muscles and skin. This is commonly referred to as a tummy tuck.

The big difference between 2007 and 2008 is that liposuction is no longer the number cosmetic surgery being performed in the United States. The two actually traded positions between 2007 and 2008, swapping each other out for number one and number two of the most popular cosmetic surgery procedures done.