Liposuction of Belly Fat

Many people have too much belly fat and have difficulty losing it. But some belly or abdominal fat is an important component of one’s body. It serves numerous important functions such as temperature regulation, protection of vital organs, and a large surface area for energy storage. The belly area represents the largest depot site in the body for excess fat.

Medically, body fat is known as adipose tissue which is made up of adipocyte (fat) cells. In each fat cell are lipids (oils) and water. Everyone knows that too many nutrients will end up as fat storage. But the belly area in men and woman are different…and this has important implications for liposuction body contouring. Men have a disproportionate amount of fat that can develop around the organs compared to women. As a result, large bellies in men often have a significant amount of excess fat inside the abdominal cavity, which is not accessible by any surgical method. Men, therefore, do not usually achieve as much of a  result after abdominal liposuction as women when it comes to treatment of a large or protuberant abdomen.  

Why some people’s bellies get fatter than others, everything else being equal, is really determined by your personal genetic code. As a general rule, women acquire fat around the thighs, hips and buttocks, while men accumulate it largely in their belly area.

People considering abdominal liposuction are doing it because of their belly shape, not necessarily based on their weight or amount of body fat that they should have. However, according to the National Institutes of Health, the recommended amount of body fat for optimum health is 13-17 percent for men and 20-21 percent for women. Most Americans, however, are at least 3-5 percent higher than these averages. Once one climbs above  25 percent in men and 30 percent in women, one is officially defined as obese.

Abdominal liposuction based on body fat percentage or weight is not really done based on these numerical determinations. It is really a question of whether removing some of the belly fat can make enough of a difference to justify the expense and recovery of the procedure. For some patients, they are really looking for just a jump start to see enough of a change to motivate them to implement a sustainable diet and exercise program. For other patients, they are seeking much better abdominal refinement as they have done the best they could do up to the point of surgery.

Today, there are numerous types of liposuction for excess belly fat that differ in their method of freeing up the fat under the skin. While all liposuction methods (traditional, ultrasonic, laser) work, the degree of improvement is often highly operator dependent. Currently,  in my Indianapolis plastic surgery practice, I prefer Smartlipo (laser liposuction) due to the heat energy generated which very visibly melts fat and offers the potential benefit of some skin tightening through thermal collagen remodeling.