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Body Contouring for Men

The Last Step in Your Weight Loss Journey

Losing weight can be a lot of work. And for men, in particular, it’s the preferred method for shaping your body. Studies show that men prefer exercise over diet when it comes to staying healthy or losing weight. This may because studies also show that men tend to lose weight more easily than women. However, both men and women who strive for healthy bodies encounter the same basic roadblock: sometimes exercise isn’t enough. And, for that matter, sometimes diet and exercise combined simply isn’t enough. Your body is designed, largely, to store fat.

This ability to store fat can be vexing when it comes to certain areas of the body. The simple fact of the matter is that, often, specific areas of the body simply cannot be targeted by diet or exercise, no matter how disciplined you are in your healthy living regiment. These pockets of fat can crop up just about anywhere, but certainly they’re a little more common around the stomach and lower body. The solution to this problem often lies in surgery, in particular body contouring. At South Shore Plastic Surgery we offer amongst the best body contouring for men in Clear Lake, TX.

Body Contouring

Body contouring is a board term for a wide variety of more specific procedures. The most common of these procedures is called liposuction, which, is one of the most popular plastic surgery procedures around the country. During a liposuction procedure, surgeons will insert a small cannula beneath the skin, and use that cannula to extract unwanted or excess fat in the targeted area. This is referred to as body contouring because, unlike the liposuction of past years—which focused mostly on removing bulk body fat—modern liposuction focuses on shaping the fat so that it looks natural, matching the inherent contours of your body and emphasizing the masculine aspects that you’re looking to achieve.

However, body contouring can also refer to some procedures that are performed after a massive weightloss experience. Sometimes significant weight loss can bring with it a significant amount of excess skin and tissue. In other words, the skin loses elasticity, and because of this, finds it difficult to “spring” back to its original shape. Thus, many patients who have recently lost a significant amount of weight, whether because of bariatric surgery or because of diet and exercise, feel as though their weight loss journey is still incomplete. Excess skin can leave some patients feeling as self-conscious about their bodies as excess weight. Body contouring surgery is designed to eliminate that excess skin and provide a more traditional landscape to the body—in the case of men, creating a stronger, more masculine profile. This is generally accomplished by removing excess skin and pulling the remaining skin taught to form a smoother surface. It can be an intense process, but almost all of our patients for body contouring for men in Clear Lake, TX, have been incredibly happy with the results.

Who is a Good Candidate?

Candidates for body contouring for men in Clear Lake, TX, will vary depending on the procedure wanted. Generally, however, Dr. Polsen will look for the following characteristics in successful body contouring surgery candidates:

  • For both procedures, general good health and relatively stable weight will be required
  • You do not smoke or use tobacco products
  • For body contouring especially, you have the ability to focus on recovery or at least a couple of weeks
  • You have realistic expectations of what the procedure can accomplish
  • You have completed recovery from your bariatric surgery
  • For liposuction procedures, you are bothered only by small pockets of fat that seem unmoved by diet or exercise

During your consultation, Dr. Polsen will wish to know about your general medical history in order to ensure best results. This means that you should be willing and prepared to discuss topics such as family medical history, recent medical treatments, recent prescription drug use, and any alcohol or tobacco use. This consultation is designed strictly to ensure the best results possible for any given surgery.

The Procedure

Liposuction procedures can generally be performed on an outpatient basis. Local anesthetic is most often used, but you and Dr. Polsen will discuss what will work best given your particular medical history. Liposuction is most often performed in our on-site surgical suite, and most patients are cleared to return home the same day. Before the procedure, Dr. Polsen will select sites to give you the best results possible. During surgery, a small tube, called a cannula, will be inserted beneath the skin and will extract undesired fat from the area. This fat is extracted in such a way that it will blend in seamlessly with the rest of your body. In other words, you won’t have a “skinny” area—Dr. Polsen will remove fat in such a way that you will simply have a more masculine profile.

Body contouring after weight loss is significantly more complex than liposuction, and as such, is almost always performed in a hospital setting under general anesthesia. During the procedure, an incision will be made along the waistline (although usually in an area that will be hidden with normal clothing). Excess skin will be removed, and the remaining skin will be restructured so as to be smoother. There will be some scarring after the procedure, but generally this scarring will be hidden by every-day clothing choices. The removal of excess skin will allow you to find clothing that fits better, and will result in increased confidence and self-esteem. In other words, it will finally allow you to complete that weight loss journey.

Recovery

Complete recovery from liposuction body contouring surgeries can take several months. However, you should be well enough to resume most normal activities after a week or two. That said, we typically advise patients to take at least one week off of work, and arrange a robust support system for that first week. To manage pain, most patients rely on over-the-counter solutions, such as Tylenol, but Dr. Polsen can offer more robust pain management if necessary. In order to protect your results, it’s recommended that you attempt to maintain a healthy and stable weight, as any sudden weight gains or weight losses will diminish the returns on your investment.

Recovery for body contouring after weight loss will be more intense, and generally involves at least two days in the hospital following surgery. This will generally be followed by two to four weeks of concerted recovery at home. It will be several months for swelling to completely subside, and for your optimum results to be visible. Most patients generally return to work and to normal activity after the initial two-to-four week recovery period. This operation after massive weight loss can be an intense process, but almost all of our body contouring in Clear Lake, TX patients notice long term benefits from the procedure.