New Year’s Body Contouring Trends for 2022

With many of us working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals experienced weight gain at the onset of the lockdown period in 2020, followed by an increased focus on weight loss during 2021 as the months of working at home allowed for healthier eating and more focus on self-care.

Now that many of us are back out in the world and wanting to show off the pounds that we’ve recently shed, it is highly likely that surgical and non-surgical body contouring will become a popular trend in 2022, as we work to tone and streamline our bodies and improve contour and definition.  In fact, experts in the industry predict that body contouring treatments will become a booming $1.1 billion industry by 2022.

At Glamour Plastic Surgery and Med Spa, Dr. Olga Bachilo, a licensed, board-certified plastic surgeon, provides an array of body contouring procedures customized for her patients in the greater Houston area, Katy, Sugarland, and neighboring communities in Texas.

Why consider Body Contouring after weight loss?

While losing weight benefits your overall health, reducing your risk for medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, weight loss can also produce unwanted side effects. The sagging skin left behind after weight loss can detract from your new shape, while also causing uncomfortable side effects such as chafing, rashes, and fungal infections where the skin folds.

In addition to excess skin, many also experience stubborn fatty deposits that don’t respond to diet and exercise, while others seek enhanced muscle definition, such as six-pack abs, or specific fat reduction to achieve a thigh gap or eliminate a muffin top.

Surgical or non-surgical body contouring?

Body contouring may be achieved by means of surgical and/or non-surgical procedures. In many cases, optimal results are achieved by combining both.

Body contouring surgery may include a wide range of procedures that eliminate stubborn fat and sagging skin that lingers in trouble spots after weight loss, such as folds of fat around the waist, love handles, back bulges, and flabby arms or thighs. Surgical body contouring procedures may be used to effectively trim away excess fat and sagging skin around the arms, breasts, torso, and thighs.

Body contouring treatments are highly customized to your individual needs. Taking into account several factors, such as your age, weight, and the areas of the body that you want to treat, Dr. Bachilo will recommend the ideal combination of procedures to help you achieve your aesthetic goals.  Some of the most frequently performed body contouring procedures recommended after weight loss are:

• Arm lift: Arm lift surgery trims away excess skin and fatty tissue from the upper arms, producing a smoother, firmer, and more defined appearance.
• Breast lift: Sagging breasts are very common after dramatic weight loss and can detract from your new, slimmer appearance. Breast lift surgery lifts and repositions the breast and nipples to a higher position on the chest, producing firmer and perkier breasts.
• Buttock enhancement (Brazilian Butt Lift): Weight loss can take a toll on areas such as the buttocks, causing the buttocks to sag and become flat. Buttock enhancement surgery can restore the firm, full buttocks that will perfectly enhance your new, slimmer silhouette.
• Liposuction: Provided as a stand-alone treatment or as part of other surgical procedure combinations, such as the Mommy Makeover, liposuction surgery uses a vacuum system to gently extract fat from stubborn areas.
• Thigh lift: Thigh lift surgery removes excess fat and skin from the upper and inner thighs, producing a more youthful and toned appearance. In many cases, a thigh gap may be achieved via thigh lift surgery.
• Tummy tuck: A tummy tuck procedure trims away excess abdominal fat and skin, while tightening the abdominal muscles. This produces a flatter abdomen and smaller waistline. In many cases, liposuction may be combined with tummy tuck procedures to remove stubborn fatty deposits and optimize results.

Who is a good candidate for body contouring surgery?

Body contouring surgery is safe for individuals in overall good physical health who have no underlying medical conditions that may impair healing and recovery. The ideal candidate for body contouring procedures is close to their ideal weight and has ideally maintained this weight for at least several months. The best candidates are those who are committed to a healthy and active lifestyle, including a balanced diet and regular exercise regimen. Remember that gaining weight in the future can detract from your results.

What is Non-Surgical Body Contouring?

Depending on the individual, body contouring may also be achieved without surgery, by means of advanced technologies such as fat freezing, ultrasound therapy, radiofrequency and/or High-Intensity Focused Electro-Magnetic (HIFEM) energy.

Non-invasive, non-surgical procedures may be used to tone and tighten muscles and improve definition in different areas of the body. Some body contouring treatments also tighten the skin, reduce fatty deposits and/or cellulite, and help to build and define muscles faster than diet and exercise. Treatments are delivered in short 30-minutes sessions with no downtime, and results may continue to improve for weeks and months following treatment.

Emsculpt NEO

One of our most advanced and exciting treatments at Glamour Plastic Surgery and Med Spa is the Emsculpt NEO, which has emerged as a great way for individuals to sculpt their bodies quickly while building muscle mass and improving muscle tone and definition.

Emsculpt NEO uses high-intensity focused electromagnetic energy (HIFEM) to produce thousands of intensely powerful muscle contractions during one 30-minute session, which equates to someone doing more than 20,000 manual crunches or squats in a gym. Emsculpt NEO also contracts 90% of your muscles, in contrast to the 20% or 30% that you can contract on your own while working out at the gym.

Emsculpt NEO lets you build up strength in your muscles without weightlifting or intense workouts. You can expect up to a 25% increase in muscle mass and a 30% reduction in fat about 2-4 weeks after completing your treatment series.

CoolSculpting

An ideal treatment for individuals who are within 25-30 pounds of their target weight, CoolSculpting safely and gently freezes away excess fat cells and sculpts a slimmer, more toned, and streamlined silhouette in the torso. CoolSculpting also enhances muscular definition and triggers collagen synthesis, producing visible, long-lasting results. The FDA has also approved CoolSculpting as a skin tightening treatment, although it will not achieve the same results you would get with a surgical tummy tuck.

The CoolSculpting treatment delivers precisely controlled cold to skin and underlying muscle tissue. While the procedure may effectively freeze away as much as 20% of fat cells in the treatment area, the procedure is virtually painless.  Over the coming weeks, these destroyed fat cells will melt away naturally as your body naturally eliminates them, and the results of your CoolSculpting treatment will appear gradually, much like natural weight loss.

Venus Legacy

Non-invasive skin tightening can also be achieved with Venus Legacy RadioFrequency treatments, most frequently on the abdomen, buttocks, and thighs. The Venus Legacy delivers a combination of Multi-polar RadioFrequency and Pulsed Electromagnetic Technology to reduce the volume and size of fat cells beneath the surface of the skin. By melting down fat cells, the Venus Legacy enhances muscular contour and definition in treatment areas. The treatment also stimulates an increase in collagen and elastin synthesis, which tightens the skin and improves overall skin tone. As an extra added benefit, the Venus Legacy also effectively breaks down cellulite, in addition to diminishing the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.  Venus Legacy treatments are suitable for all skin types and require no downtime. 

Emtone

Emtone is the first and currently the only non-invasive treatment approved by the FDA to simultaneously tighten the skin, contour the body, and reduce the appearance of cellulite. Emtone’s delivers both thermal and radiofrequency energy to the treatment area using a unique delivery system that combines Monopolar Radiofrequency and Targeted Pressure Energy.  The treatment effectively tones lax muscles, eliminates fatty deposits, and tightens sagging skin, effectively treating the causes of cellulite while providing body contouring benefits. In clinical studies, Emtone treatments produced an increase in elastin production of 64%, an increase of 59% in collagen production, and an increase of 44% in the skin’s thickness.  

Emtone treatments are most effective on the abdomen, buttocks, thighs, back, and upper arms.  Treatments are painless and take about 20 minutes to perform.  The treatment is typically described as a sensation similar to a hot stone massage combined with intense pulsing vibrations. There is no downtime, so you may resume normal activities immediately following treatment. Most treatment series consists of four sessions scheduled once or twice weekly over a period of two to four weeks.  

Schedule Your Free Consultation

If you’d like to ring in the New Year with a toned and streamlined new appearance, consider body contouring treatments to smooth out those stubborn, unsightly bumps and bulges, and show off the pounds you shed in 2021. To schedule your free introductory consultation with Dr. Bachilo, contact Glamour Plastic Surgery and Med Spa today.