3 Areas Where You Won’t Lose Fat Without Plastic Surgery

Losing weight is a tough feat that requires a lot of discipline, but what if you’re looking to lose fat in specific areas like your arms or neck? This is called targeted exercise or spot reduction—but according to science, it doesn’t work. You can’t choose specific areas like your chin to shed your fat. Factors like genetics determine where you’ll see weight loss on your body. So unfortunately, those obscure chin exercises like tilting your head up and down won’t help in getting rid of a double chin.

Intense workouts that help you shed body fat overall helps, but sometimes it doesn’t help in specific areas of the body and face. Below are some areas where fat builds up, but can’t always be reduced through exercise.

Source: SpaMedica. Before and after photos of a patient who had BodyTite liposuction to her neck and chin.

Chin

Ever had someone take an unflattering picture of you from a lower angle? It’s a pretty easy way to make you look like you have a double chin.

Looking like you have a double chin in photos might suck, but what if your double chin is just something you’ve always dealt with? Sometimes a double chin is related to carrying excess weight, but it can also be hereditary. If you see that a few of your family members also have double chins, chances are that it’s in the family.  Age is also another factor in having a double chin. As we get older, our skin and muscles loosen. When the muscles around the chin and neck loosen over time, the chin and neck lines aren’t as defined anymore.

What to do about double chins: Neck liposuction helps define your chin and neck area. Newer liposuction techniques like SmartLipo, BodyTite or VaserLipo reduces the amount of fat under your chin and tightens your skin all at once.

“These procedures are performed under local anaesthesia with light oral sedation and a very small incision under the chin. These various techniques use laser energy, ultrasound energy or radiofrequency electrical current to liquefy the fat internally and create some heat. It stimulates skin and dermal contraction,” says Toronto plastic surgeon Dr. Mulholland.

Source: SpaMedica. Before and after photos of a patient who had blepharoplasty.

Under Your Eyes

Spot reduction sounds like it can work (it doesn’t), but there’s no way you’re going to get rid of the fat under your eyes through targeted eye massages and exercises. Fat under the eyes can make someone look older or more tired than they actually are. This thought isn’t the same in all cultures—this article reports that people in South Korea have sought surgery to make their under-eye skin plumper. 

This trend called “aegyo sal” (it translates to eye smiles or cute skin) is believed to make a person look more attractive and youthful in Korea. That’s not quite the case in North America. People go through eye creams and procedures to reduce the fat or puffiness under their eyes.

What you can do about fat under your eyes:  Blepharoplasty, also known as eyelid surgery, can reduce the fat under your eyes. Incisions are made below the lash line for the lower lids and then excess fat and skin are removed. “If excess fat is only present in the lower lids, it may be removed through an incision inside the lower lids conjunctivum with no external incision or scar,” says Dr. Mulholland.

Source: SpaMedica. Before and after photos of a patient who had male breast reduction

Male breasts

Gynecomastia, also known as male breasts or “moobs”, is a condition where a man has excessive amounts of fat in the breasts. This happens due to different things like diet, environmental or hereditary factors. This swelling and enlargement of the breasts can be seen in newborn males, boys and older men. While this condition subsides for some boys, about 8% of boys continue to face this condition. Gyneocomastia isn’t life-threatening, but it can negatively affect a boy or man’s self-esteem.

What to do about male breasts: If losing weight doesn’t help, male breast reduction is a solution to gynecomastia. During this procedure, energy-assisted liposuction techniques like SmartLipo and VaserLipo can be used to reduce the size of male breasts for a flatter, more masculine looking chest.

Working out is great, no doubt. But sometimes, exercise just won’t cut it when you’re looking to cut the fat in certain body areas. Leave a comment here or book an appointment online if you have any questions regarding these procedures.