By Dr Catherine de Goursac
Today’s man worries about his appearance and wants nicely-rounded buttocks. The fashion for pert, well-rounded buttocks comes from Brazil, and is enjoying resounding success in France. Originally coveted only by women and men who like men, more and more young and no-so-young men are now jumping on the bandwagon and paying more attention to their physique.
First stop: sport
To achieve an attractive bottom, the first thing to try is sport, particularly muscle-strengthening. It will firm up, tone and reshape soft, at and saggy buttocks. But, to achieve good results, you need to stick to it and dedicate several hours per week to your regime, or even a few hours per day, which requires time and willpower: things that not everyone has.
Injections: as painful as they are expensive
Men who want to increase their buttock volume in order to improve the appearance of their posterior could use hyaluronic acid-based filler products. Macrolane, which was the go-to substance for a long time, was not injected but was inserted in surgery by a cosmetic surgeon. Now prohibited in France, it has been replaced by HYAcorpTM, an injectable authorised for use by cosmetic doctors. But you must inject a lot of product to achieve satisfactory results, which is expensive. Furthermore, you must avoid sitting down for 24 to 48 hours after injection, to give the product time to settle.
Tensor threads, the ideal solution for beautifying the buttocks
Tensor threads really are a favourite product for shaping and lifting the posterior. You need to opt for barbed PDO or polydiaxone threads, an extremely safe material used for sutures in general surgery and in cardiology. Naturally resorbable, PDO stimulates collagen production and revitalises the tissues. Valued highly in aesthetic medicine, they are available in different lengths and diameters. Another advantage is that they are barbed and therefore hold up any tissues that have a tendency to sag. Using these threads, the practitioner can round the underside of the buttocks by lifting their middle, alter the shape as they wish, correct a saggy bum or erase an unsightly under-bottom fold. After asking their patient to avoid taking aspirin for 48 hours prior to the procedure, the practitioner starts by taking a photograph of the buttocks, on which they then mark out the shape that the patient wishes to achieve. During this preliminary stage, the patient is standing up. They then lie down on their front and are given a local anaesthetic. As soon as it takes effect, the practitioner inserts the threads into the tissues in a criss-cross pattern to make a mesh that will shape and lift the buttocks. The effects are visible at the end of the session but settle in properly between 1 and 3 months afterwards. The area might be a bit tender, but the patient can sit down at the end of the session. When the effects of the local anaesthetic wear off, some patients notice different kinds of pain. Sometimes they complain of cramps or even stiffness in the fortnight that follows. Bruising is common, even if the patient has taken arnica 9ch homeopathy granules, which limit the severity and duration.
Get rid of love handles to enhance the buttocks
To highlight the buttocks, you must make sure their lovely round shape is not detracted from by more unsightly curves, namely love handles. Only a well-shaped waist will truly show off your bum. Sport is not very effective at getting rid of these unsightly fat stores. Aesthetic surgery, with liposuction, gives great results. But this is a real surgical procedure so post-operative care is important.
Cryolipolysis, an ideal technique for unsightly fat stores
Nowadays, cryolipolysis is a well-known technique for getting rid of those extra inches, providing the fat is well defined and localised, which is the case for love handles.
It involves freezing the fat cells to destroy them, since fat cells self-destruct at a temperature of around 5°C. Cryolipolysis devices are designed to lower the skin temperature to minus 4 or minus 5°C, in order to obtain a temperature of 5°C inside the fat. The practitioner begins by protecting the skin with a special film to stop it from being damaged, while ensuring that the cold gets right into the area concerned. Then they place the handpiece that will cool the skin onto the treatment area. This highly-developed technique is constantly being improved. Initially, specialists noticed that massaging the treatment area immediately after the session significantly improved the machine’s effectiveness. They realised that the cold makes the triglycerides in the fat cells crystallise, which attacks the cell membrane.
Given that massage attacks this membrane, it potentiates the adipocyte destruction rate. To further increase the machine’s performance, specialists decided to heat the device to a temperature of 40 or 41°C for a few minutes while in contact with the skin, before dropping the temperature to -3 or -5°C. The experiment was a success. This action increases triglyceride crystallisation quite significantly. More aggressive, it attacks the adipocyte walls more violently and therefore destroys the more effectively. This method, which has been in practice for under two years, is starting to become commonplace. In all cases, you must plan to have 2 to 3 sessions spaced 3 weeks apart to get rid of love handles. The results settle in gradually and are at their optimum after 3 months.
Dr. Catherine de Goursac 
Cosmetic and anti-aging doctor. Author of more than 30 publications, Member of the board of directors of the AFME and the FSMEA.
