Will a Tummy Tuck Reduce Love Handles?
While it would be great if we could lose weight evenly all over, we all have areas of the body where fat seems to be lost and gained more easily. “Love handles” and “muffin top” are some of the cute nicknames given to common problem areas on the body where resistant fat tends to accumulate, but there isn’t much to love about these fatty deposits that visibly cling to the sides of the waist and hang over the edge of a pants or skirt. A standard abdominoplasty or tummy tuck is traditionally used to re-shape the stomach area, but this procedure only addresses the frontal part of the abdomen. While tummy tuck surgery from our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute isn’t a solution for love handles, these other techniques might be able to help you develop a thinner waistline.
Exercise
Remember that spot exercises that target the obliques and side crunches are unlikely to slim down your sides because they don’t shrink fat cells. However, since a sedentary lifestyle makes fat accumulation more likely, try to be more active and incorporate cardio into your daily routine along with weight training.
Sleep More
You need to get enough sleep to avoid high cortisol levels in the body that can cause weight gain on the abdominal area. Try to consistently get seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.
Liposuction
Our team usually combines liposuction with tummy tuck surgery to target surrounding areas such as the sides, lower back, and hips. This is what’s called an extended tummy tuck. If the front of the stomach and the sides are both areas you hope to improve, be sure to express your concern about love handles as well if you’re having a consultation for a tummy tuck. Liposuction can also be performed as a standalone procedure if you simply want to decrease fatty deposits on the flanks.
Ready to sculpt a slimmer, sleeker abdominal area? Get more advice about tummy tuck surgery from the team at Cosmetic Surgery Institute. If you have questions about this or other types of plastic surgery, don’t hesitate to contact us. For more information, give us a call at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation.
What Strategies Can Maximize Liposuction Results?
Is a more sculpted physique one of your resolutions? Sometimes diet and exercise can only take you so far, so patients will turn to surgical fat reduction as a way of finally reducing the volume of excess fat on isolated parts of their body. Liposuction isn’t a weight loss technique, but it’s ideal for the patient who has reached their goal weight and just has a few areas they wish were a bit slimmer. Along with enhanced body contours, liposuction patients also often report having better self-esteem and feeling more confident. Once unwanted bulk has been removed via surgical fat reduction from our Palm Desert-based team, the fat can’t regenerate, so patients enjoy lasting slimmer contours.
That doesn’t mean, however, that patients can return to unhealthy habits after the surgery. One or two extra pounds might not make much of a difference, but remember that if you don’t maintain a healthy lifestyle and you do gain a significant amount of weight in the future, the remaining fat cells in the treatment area could become enlarged. Fat cells in other parts of the body may also grow in size, leading to new bulges in unexpected areas.
If you’re considering liposuction to enhance your body shape, we have some tips to help you boost the outcome from this procedure.
Exercise Regularly
Although you won’t be able to engage in any intense exercise while you’re recovering, going for walks is important after surgery to prevent blood clots and help you to heal at a faster rate. Once you’ve recovered and your surgeon has given you approval to do so, return to your normal exercise routine as soon as you can.
Maintain a Healthy Diet
Even if you’re exercising frequently, you might not notice the slimming and contouring effects of liposuction if you have unhealthy eating habits. Avoid processed foods, refined sugars, and simple carbohydrates as much as possible.
Wear Your Compression Garments
The ultimate results from liposuction may not be noticeable until post-surgical swelling goes down. Compression garments keep this side effect under control and improve contours in the treatment area.
Thinking about having liposuction to reduce stubborn deposits of fat? For more advice on surgical body contouring, contact our Palm Desert-based Cosmetic Surgery Institute. For more information, give us a call at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon.