Do Many Men Get Liposuction?

When most people think of cosmetic surgery, they think of it as a woman's field, and to a certain extent, this is true. Women do make up a majority of cosmetic surgery patients, and some surgeries (such as breast augmentation) are fairly exclusively only meant for women, or in some cases those trying to become women.

However, there are increasing signs that more and more men are becoming interested in cosmetic surgeries. Although men still are a minority among cosmetic surgery patients, their numbers are climbing every year. Recent polls and surveys also suggest that men are becoming more accepting of the idea of getting cosmetic surgery, and of other men who have. In fact, in some recent surveys, the number of men who said they would consider undergoing some such surgery was greater than the number of women.

One of the most popular cosmetic surgeries among men is liposuction (also sometimes known as lipoplasty and suction lipectomy). The name of this surgery literally means the suction of fat, and that is just what it is: a procedure in which excess fat is suctioned out of the body. It is usually performed on one or perhaps a few target areas at a time. The surgery is generally performed under local anesthesia.

During the surgery, a doctor makes one or more small incisions over the patient's desired target area. Next the surgeon inserts a small surgical instrument known as a cannula into the incision. A cannula is a thin, hollow rod which can be attached to a special suction device. As the surgeon moves the cannula back and forth through the fatty tissue, it breaks up and suctions out the unwanted fat.

Among men, the most popular target area for liposuction is the abdomen. Men's genetics mean they tend to store a large amount of their excess fat around their abdomens, so it's no surprise that this is a popular target area for them. Both the front and the sides of the abdomen are popular areas for treatment. Removing fat from these places on the body can help to reduce the problems of "beer bellies" and "love handles."

Another popular target area for men is the chest. Although there are actually a large number of men who store excess fat around their chests, many men are embarrassed by this condition. In popular culture, this problem is frequently referred to as "man boobs," because the extra fat can make a man's chest resemble a woman's breasts. Liposuction can frequently help to reduce the size and prominence of man boobs by removing the excess fat.