Saddlebags
Cosmetic Surgery - Plastic Surgery - Aesthetic Medicine - Reconstructive Surgery
A Saddlebag is a pocket of fat that settles in the form of a roll of
fat on the back of the thighs and buttocks causing their enlargement.
Women are more affected than men. These unsightly bulges can appear
in spite of a normal healthy weight after weight loss or even physical
exercise. Once they appear, they are permanent.
An abnormally high development of adipocytes or fat cells in certain
parts of the human body is the source of the fatty deposits causing
saddlebags. This build-up is called cellulite. In the presence of fatty
deposits, the skin takes on a soft and flaccid consistency with the
appearance of «orange peel", dimpled and grainy.
The lymphatic system should normally eliminate this by draining water
and toxins that accumulate in fatty tissue, but this system is not a
pump and depends on muscle contraction, not the bloodstream.
The formation of fat deposits is more rapid than their removal by
muscle contraction. As time passes, the more fatty deposits harden and
become significant. Cellulite develops.
The presence of these fatty deposits is often linked to more
sedentary lifestyles with a lack of exercise. Weight gain is a major
factor in the appearance of fatty deposits but successive diets,
alternating loss and weight gain may also be an aggravating factor for
cellulite. Hormonal imbalances (oestrogens) at the time of puberty,
pregnancy or menopause predispose people to the development of fatty
deposits. Alcohol and tobacco are amongst the factors leading to the
development of fatty deposits.
These fat deposits, once they have occurred, are resistant to various
kinds of diets. There is a way to eliminate these localized fat
deposits: lipoaspiration or liposuction performed by surgeons
qualified in plastic, aesthetic and reconstructive surgery.