Male Liposuction And Liposuction For Men

By Jerome Edelstein, MD

Recent studies from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) has shown that more men than ever before are seeking self-improvement through cosmetic enhancement procedures. Between 2009 to 2010 alone ASPS research marked a 14 percent increase in men receiving facelifts, an 11 percent increase in ear surgery requests and a 10 percent increase in soft tissue filler procedures. Most men who undergo aesthetic surgery are under the age of 45.

So, what cosmetic surgeries are men undergoing most?

By volume, the top aesthetic procedures requested by men in 2011 were:

Nose reshaping (62,000 procedures, down by 2% from 2010)

Eyelid surgery (29,000 procedures, down by 9% from 2010)

Liposuction (23,000 procedures, down by 3% from 2010)

Male breast reduction (20,000 procedures, up by 8% from 2010) Also known as gynecomastia treatment, this is performed for different reasons than its female counterpart.

Facelift (11,000 procedures, up by 3% from 2010)

The only category of plastic surgery procedure (surgical or minimally invasive) that more men receive than women is hair transplantation.

Before and After Liposuction PhotoMALE VS. FEMALE LIPOSUCTION IN TORONTOPart of the increase in male cosmetic surgery patients has been the need for plastic surgeons to address specific needs differently than they would for women. As more men seek liposuction treatment, it’s become important for surgeons to recognize the fundamental differences in performing the procedure on men instead of using traditional techniques commonly applied to women (who represent almost 90% of liposuction patients).
One of the most important differences is that men, unlike women, usually do not seek treatment for upper back and thigh fat but, instead, more often request liposuction to target the waist, abdomen, lower back, breast and neck. Fat collects differently in men and women, meaning that male patients rarely seek liposuction for their upper backs, arms or legs (where fat more commonly collects in women). In many cases these men have a history of fatty waists, abdomens, breasts and/or necks in their family. Reducing the male breast is one of the most common requests. This predisposition creates a frustrating situation where men cannot address this with exercise and healthy eating alone, making liposuction an ideal treatment.

While liposuction is performed in the same manner for both men and women, the makeup of the fatty tissue itself varies between genders. Women typically possess softer and less fibrous adipose tissue than men. This presents greater physical demands for the administering Plastic Surgeon, but does not lower success rates for male patients who receive liposuction. We commonly employ more powerful liposuction techniques, such as ultrasonic or power-assisted liposuction, in male patients to address these differences.