Love handles treatment in Singapore why flank fat stays, and what shifts it

Full guide: Non-surgical stomach tightening

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Why love handles hold on

Love handles, also called flank fat or a muffin top, sit just under the skin at the sides of the waist, where the waistband presses. It is the same subcutaneous fat found on the lower tummy, inner thighs and bra line, and like those areas it tends to be the last to change.

That is not a lack of effort. The number and size of fat cells in each area is partly set by genes and hormones, which is why some zones barely respond to diet and exercise even when your weight is stable. Exercise strengthens the muscles underneath, which helps, but it cannot burn fat from the spot you are working.

A quick pinch test tells you a lot:

• You can pinch a soft roll at the side of the waist: subcutaneous fat, the layer contouring devices are designed to reach.
• The fullness is firm and across the upper tummy, and you cannot pinch much: often visceral fat around the organs, which no device can target.
• The skin is soft and moves easily but there is little to pinch: loose skin, which needs tightening rather than fat reduction.

Options at SkinRev Lab

Non-invasive treatments that work on the flanks

These are performed by our Aesthetic Specialists at CityLink Mall. Prices are per session, before GST.

In detail

Choosing between SKINSHAPE and SKINUSHAPE for love handles

Many clients use both SKINSHAPE and SKINUSHAPE across a course: ultrasound on the denser parts, microwave where skin quality also needs attention. Your Aesthetic Specialist assesses which layer your concern sits in before suggesting either.

• SKINSHAPE uses microwave energy to warm the fat layer and the skin above it, delivering 100 kJ per 15 × 15 cm zone. Because it works on the skin as well, it suits soft love handles that come with some looseness or dimpling. Most people return to work the same day.
• SKINUSHAPE acts mechanically on fat cells rather than mainly heating them, which suits denser, more compact waistline fat that responds slowly to heat. It does not tighten skin, so where laxity is part of the picture it is paired with a skin treatment. The area may look briefly flushed afterwards.
• SKINSCULPT is worth adding when the core feels weak or soft under the fat. Its tummy region strengthens the rectus abdominis and obliques. After pregnancy, have your postnatal check and any abdominal separation assessed first.
• SKINTIGHT, at S$588 per 15 × 15 cm body zone before GST, is the option when loose, crepey skin over the waist is the main concern.

Prices

How flanks are counted and priced

SKINSHAPE and SKINUSHAPE are priced per 15 × 15 cm zone, per session. Love handles are mapped side by side, and how many zones each side needs depends on your frame and how far the fullness runs towards the back and front. A full abdomen is usually treated as two zones, and abdomen with flanks is typically three or four.

Your Aesthetic Specialist measures the area and sets out the number of zones, the course and the total at consultation, before anything is booked. The examples below use standard rates and are illustrations only, not quotes. First-visit rates apply once per new client, to one zone, on the first session.

Expectations

What love handle treatment can and cannot do

• It changes the outline at the waist; it is not weight loss. The number on the scale often barely moves, because the volume treated is small.
• It suits adults at or near a stable, healthy weight with soft, pinchable fat. If there is a lot of weight to lose, a medical weight-management plan comes first.
• Change is gradual. Treated fat cells are cleared by the body over several weeks, and after SKINSHAPE collagen remodelling continues for up to three months after the final session.
• Body contouring is a course rather than a single session, spaced a few weeks apart. Results vary with your starting point, the number of sessions and your habits in between.
• Remaining fat cells can still enlarge if you gain weight, so keeping your weight stable helps hold the new contour.
• Published reviews of non-invasive fat reduction describe mild to moderate effects, in the order of a few centimetres of circumference across a course (Kennedy 2015; Alizadeh 2016).

For men

Love handles in men

Many men find the waist and flanks are where fat shows first. The approach is the same: a pinch test, zone mapping and a course, at the same prices.

One caution matters more for men. A belly that is firm and round, with little to pinch, is usually visceral fat around the organs. That is a health conversation, not a contouring one, and no device can reach it. Dr Sin Yong at IN Eternity Clinic runs doctor-supervised weight management with assessment, blood tests and regular reviews; contouring can follow for any pinchable areas that remain.

IN Eternity Clinic

CoolSculpting, fat freezing and other doctor-performed options

Many people search for CoolSculpting for love handles. CoolSculpting is a brand of cryolipolysis, or fat freezing. SkinRev Lab does not operate cryolipolysis, Onda Pro or HIFU. These are performed by Dr Sin Yong at IN Eternity Clinic, 9 Scotts Road, #12-01 Pacific Plaza, beside Orchard MRT, and priced at consultation by the clinic. SkinRev Lab can pass your enquiry on, or you can WhatsApp the clinic on +65 8815 3008.

• Fat freezing (cryolipolysis): controlled cooling of a distinct, pinchable bulge, including the flanks, with change developing over two to three months. It does not tighten loose skin. Redness, swelling, tenderness or numbness can last days to a few weeks, and a rare complication, paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, makes the treated area larger and firmer instead; it is discussed before treatment.
• Onda Pro: DEKA Coolwaves microwave energy at 2.45 GHz, absorbed mainly by fat while the skin surface is cooled, for pinchable fat on the tummy, flanks, thighs or arms.
• 4K Body Lift: radiofrequency through insulated microneedles on the CLASSYS Secret Duo platform, treating compact fat on areas such as the waist and flanks and the skin above it in one visit, under numbing cream. Expect tenderness and pinpoint marks for some days, and possibly bruising for up to two weeks; contour change builds over about six weeks.

See a doctor first

When SkinRev Lab is not the right starting point

We would rather say so than sell sessions. See the doctor at IN Eternity Clinic before any body contouring if any of these apply.

• The fullness is firm and cannot be pinched.
• There is a fold of skin that hangs over your waistband, or a visible ridge down the middle of your tummy after pregnancy.
• You have had a hernia or abdominal surgery, or have an implanted device.
• You are pregnant or breastfeeding.
• There is a lump that feels different from the surrounding fat, is growing or is tender. That needs a diagnosis, not contouring.

Sources

References & sources

1. Kennedy J, Verne S, Griffith R, Falto-Aizpurua L, Nouri K. Non-invasive subcutaneous fat reduction: a review. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2015;29(9):1679-1688. PMID 25664493.
2. Alizadeh Z, Halabchi F, Mazaheri R, Abolhasani M, Tabesh M. Review of the mechanisms and effects of noninvasive body contouring devices on cellulite and subcutaneous fat. Int J Endocrinol Metab. 2016;14(4):e36727. PMID 28123436.

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