A recent billboard ad from a plastic surgery group in Michigan drew a lot of ire on Facebook due to its content and images. The ad was targeting a very common body contour problem known as the ‘muffin top’. Just about everyone instantly knows what that is, particularly to those who have it and can’t get rid of it no matter what they do. It is that roll of fat that extends beyond the waistline over the edge of one’s underwear or pants in a most unflatteringly way.
The billboard ad used a set of muffin molds in the shape of a pair of jeans to demonstrate this pesky waistline fat problem…with the obvious intent of offering liposuction to treat it. The muffin molds used in the ad are an actual product that is sold, with the exact same picture, for making muffins. Apparently plastic surgeons are not the only business people who are aware of this human affliction.
While the ad may have been a little bit controversial, the treatment of the muffin top deformity by liposuction is not. Muffin top fat is very hard to get rid of on one’s own. Working out, eating healthy and specific abdominal exercises often fail to make a dent in it. It is not only a area of fat that is resistant to such efforts but it is also hard to conceal in clothes especially when wearing jeans.
Liposuction is the only known effective muffin top treatment that produces an immediate change. It can be done alone but is often done in combination with other liposuction-treated areas. It is almost always done along with most types of tummy tucks to create more of a circumferential waistline reshaping.
Through a single small nick incision in the side of the waist, a small cannula is inserted to remove the fat. This is a straight cannula working on a curved body area with the patient lying flat. These differing geometries require a bit of artistic skill and experience to effectively get most of the muffin top fat out as symmetrically as possible. It is one of the most effective liposuction treated body areas because the surgeon can be very aggressive with the fat removal with little fear of causing a body contour deformity. Normally creating a concave contour effect is to be avoided but in the muffin top deformity that is exactly what one is trying to achieve.
Much is made of various liposuction technologies (e.g., Smartlipo, Vaser liposuction etc) with each purporting to offer the best method of fat removal. But when it comes to the smaller muffin top problem, any liposuction technique can be equally effective if skillfully done.
While there will be some definite swelling and bruising afterwards, improvement will still be seen immediately. Expect up to six weeks afterwards to achieve the final contour result and appreciate the complete elimination of the outer bulging of the muffin tops.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana