I do a lot of Liposuction to the love handles. Lipo to the love handles means different things to different plastic surgeons. Many surgeons consider liposuction to the love handles as just liposuction to the front flanks. They do not take any fat from the backside. Lipo to the full flanks is lipo to the love handles and liposuction to the back flanks. The back flanks is the area immediately above the buttocks.
Lipo to the love handles means different things to different plastic surgeons. – Dr. Rodriguez, Baltimore Plastic Surgeon
It is not until we are in front the 3 way mirror during the consult, that many patients recognize their fat distribution on the back side above the buttocks. Patients immediately recognize the value of doing liposuction to both the front and back flanks, aka the full flanks. I almost always make the suggestion to do the full flanks, and not just the abdomen or the love handles.
My surgical markings for Liposuction to love handles
Below is a picture of markings for Liposuction to the love handles. On the left, in blue, I have reproduced the markings for lipo to the love handles as it is taught in plastic Surgery residency programs and as you probably have seen it marked out in the TV plastic Surgery shows. With my technique in red, I focus on wider area, marked in red on the right side of this photo.
The traditional design for lipo to the love handles (blue marking) is based on eliminating the appearance of the love handle or muffin top as it appears to you when you look at yourself in the mirror head on.
The first thing you will notice with my method ( red marking) is that there is a lot more effort to Liposuction and contour the area above the buttock and to incorporate that into the normal area of lipo to the love handle. It is more of a 360 degree approach to the problem. We are not shaving down the love handle, we are reshaping the entire side waist and upper buttock.
The best way to visualize this in the 3/4 view.
Here you can see how the additional area of lipo (the red area) to the love handles impacts not just the view from the front, but also the back, and the oblique views. The waist is narrowed all the way around, and as an added bonus a curvy transition from the lower back to the buttock is created. This is also sometimes referred to as a shelf, and it gives the buttock a more compact and perky look.
See the photo below, where we see the right waist area improve, before lipo on the left, and after lipo on the right, as seen in the operating room table. The pictures have been rotated to appear upright.
The difference in result is remarkable. The point being that if you ask for Liposuction to the love handles, be sure to know exactly where your plastic surgeon is removing fat. The vast majority of plastic surgeons will limit the liposuction to the front flanks, and not liposuction to the back flanks.
Liposuction to the full flanks improves the buttock shelf, or transition between lower back and butt–and this makes a significant difference! My technique helps better define the buttocks area.
(Article originally published March 8, 2009)
