Latest Plastic Surgery Trend: Thin Shoulders Like Madonna & Keira Knightly

There is truly no body part today that is spared from plastic surgery and the shoulders are the latest area that some women may be looking to enhance.  Celebrities like Madonna and Keira Knightly have apparently set a new beauty standard for slender shoulders that some women are hoping to attain by going under the knife.

Some surgeons in New York are reporting a rise in women getting liposuction in their shoulders to vaccum out fat and achieve more defined shoulders.  The procedure seems to be a standard liposuction, where small incisions are placed in the natural creases and shadows of the shoulder area.  The surgeon then aspirates the fat out with a curved suction cannula (wand).  There are some surgeons who use laser-assisted liposuction like Smartlipo or Vaser to melt the fat and then suck it out.

"Many of my patients are now requesting shoulders like Madonna and Keira Knightley," said Dr. Douglas Steinbrech to the Daily Mail. The New York-based plastic surgeon said that the procedure costs between $4,000-$10,000, is relatively pain free and patients can return to work within a few days.

"I often perform the operation on a Thursday or Friday and they recover all weekend with anti-inflammatories and painkillers and go back to work on Monday," he said.

But not everyone believes that shoulder liposuction is going to be a growing trend or that it should be, as the shoulders are not typically an area that has accumulations of fat as other body areas.  If someone really has a lot of fat around the shoulders, they probably need to lose weight instead of thinking about liposuction in the area.

Beverly Hills, CA-based liposuction expert Dr. David Amron, who only performs liposuction at his practice, told Make Me Heal that he has never seen a candidate for shoulder liposuction in the thousands of evaluations.

"I do lipo on almost every area of the body and even many areas most people don't," said Dr. Amron.  "But the shoulders themselves are an area I have never seen that needs to be done".

"I strongly feel that if someone has fat shoulders then it typically is a musculoskeletal issue of larger muscles and bones and maybe that they need to lose weight.  Remember, lipo targets genetic disproportion of fat."

"I am not saying I wouldn't, but I have never seen a candidate for this area in thousands and thousands of evaluations."

"When I do lipo on the arms and upper back, which is quite common, the shoulders have a more defined look.  But I would not be marketing this as shoulder liposuction to have the look of an actress."

It appears that liposuction on the shoulders should really a last resort solution, as a patient is best advised to lose the weight first before considering a surgical option.  Moreover, if someone is going to get liposuction on the shoulders, one would think that they probably would need it in other areas as well to get a consistent toned look in the entire body.  But if you have the dough, and exercise and diet alone can't help you rid of that final pesky fat pocket on your shoulder, maybe shoulder liposuction may be right for you.