Elephant Leg / Muscular Calf
Everyone has some leg fat, but the amount varies person to person. Some may opt for running to get rid of the fat, unfortunately it may build up muscular calves unexpectedly. However, choosing to be sendatey will only make it worse. What is the best way to reduce this stubborn fat on legs?
Introduction
Having big thighs or/and big calves will make the legs appear fatter and shorter.
“Elephant leg” refers to a leg that the thigh and calf are about the same size (big size), showing no leg definition and fatter legs.
Muscular calves refer to big calves that show defined and strong muscle features, lacking an imbalanced leg contour.
Causes
Abnormal secretion of estrogen
Scientific research has shown that the level of estrogen contributes to how fat will be stored in the body. Over secretion of estrogen will increase the lipase (fat digesting enzyme) activity at thighs and buttlock, causing fat deposition at these two areas. On the other hand, people who have irregular eating habits, take contraceptives or are in the menstrual cycle are more likely to experience abnormal secretion of estrogen. The longer you have abnormal secretion of estrogen, the more fat accumulated in legs and buttlocks.
Bad sitting posture | Sitting with legs crossed
Sitting with your legs crossed (putting your ankle on the knee) may compress veins and make it challenging for blood to circulate to different areas of the body, causing poor blood and lymph circulation, or swelling on the legs. If leg stretching exercises are not involved regularly to tune back the blood flow, it may lead to development/worsening of varicose veins, fat deposition and muscle stiffness.
Sitting down in the office all day / Sedentary lifestyle
Sitting for prolonged hours can lead to poor lymph circulation throughout the body, the development of edema, weight gaining at lower body due to lack of regular workout. Prolonged sitting causes the abdomen to compress, slows down the digestion process and limits the movement of digestive organs, resulting in poor digestion performance, constipation and fat accumulation at abdomen and thighs.
Overeating
Prolonged overeating, especially food in high fat or calories content, with inadequate physical exercise, will lead to the accumulation of excess energy in the form of fat tissue in the body. Legs are more likely to gain stubborn fat than other body areas.
Bad walking posture/walking in heels frequently
The muscles in the calves are vital for walking, your every single step involves the work of the muscle. Therefore, your walking posture can directly affect the development of calf muscles. People who walk or stand in heels frequently are prone to developing muscular calves as they constantly contract the muscles of calves to maintain the posture. Compared to people who walk or stand in trainers, people in heels have larger and more muscular calves.
Lack stretching exercises for legs
Doing stretching exercises for legs after a workout or after prolonged standing/walking are beneficial for maintaining healthy and good looking legs. However, without a proper leg stretching habit, the muscles of calves remain contracted and hence strong muscle groups are developed on calves.
Symptoms
● Accumulated fat typed thick legs (elephant legs)
For thick calves that are caused by fat accumulation, there is a thick layer of fat accumulated underneath the skin, followed by the muscles of calves. This type of calves usually gives an impression of a chubby body.
Elephant legs commonly occur on people who are overweight.
● Muscular typed thick legs
Usually occurs on calves muscles that have been overused. This type of thick legs face more challenges than the fat typed thick legs because once developed, fat can be removed while muscle can only be reduced but not completely removed.
● Combined typed (fat and muscular) thick legs
This combined typed thick legs are a common leg problem. They have the problems of the combination of fat accumulation and strong muscles of calves, sometimes along with edema. When you pinch the calf, you may think that it is a muscle because it feels hard. In fact, what you feel is not muscle, but the fat accumulation and hardening caused by prolonged inactive lifestyle.
These three types (accumulated fat typed, muscular typed and combined typed) of thick legs are caused differently and should be treated in different ways for the maximum results. Combined typed thick leg is the most common symptom but is also the most complicated one, its treatment is more than just simply the combination of treating accumulated fat typed and muscular typed.
◎ Self-evaluation – which type of thick legs are you?
Having thick thighs usually indicated that you have fat accumulated typed thick legs;
For thick calves, you can pinch the calves to evaluate; the more you can pinch, the thicker of the subcutaneous fat you have. If it feels soft and can be pinched easily without any feeling of pain/swelling, it means the area you pinched is fat tissue. If it feels hard and only a little skin can be pinched with a feeling of pain/swelling, it means the area you pinched is a muscle.
Affected people
◎ People who work in a sitting position for much of the day. People who walk/stand in heels for a long period of time.
◎ Women are prone to gain weight on their legs compared to men. The estrogen in women makes it more likely for women to store fat on legs.
◎ People who lack exercise or stretching habits. People who have bad walking/running posture or have excessive running.
◎ People who like to cross their legs while sitting.
Treatment
In Prime Cosmetic Clinic, lipodissolve treatment is usually suggested for thighs slimming, botulinum toxin injection for calves slimming, and Coolsculpting for removing any stubborn fat on legs.
- A. LIPOcel
What is LIPOcel:
LIPOcel is a state-of-the-art Non-Invasive, Non-Surgical treatment for focal fat reduction and precision body contouring; treating the flanks, stomach, arms, knees and back of thighs with impressive results (20 to 40% Reduction*).
How does it work:
LIPOcel’s high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) destroys fat cells without damaging peripheral tissue resulting in circumferential reduction.
Procedure:
1、Face-to-face consultation: Customise a unique treatment plan for each client based on their condition and desired result.
2、LIPOcel: Clean and disinfect the treatment area, HIFU treatment.
3、Post-treatment precautions.
Duration: 30-45 mins
Who is it for:
√ People who are not significantly overweight but looking for a reduction of stubborn fat at specific areas such as shoulders, abdomens and buttocks;
√ People who have fat deposited at the waist or abdomen and want to rebuild their waistline by fat burning and muscle building;
√ People who have loosen skin and want to reshape their body contour and tighten their skin
√ People who want to build muscle and burn fat at the same time;
√ People who want to rebuild their body silhouette after childbirth;
√ People who want a non-invasive fat reduction treatment without any involvement of surgical operation, liposuction or general anesthesia;
√ People who lack sufficient exercise and want to lose fat healthily;
B. Leg Slimming Injection
What is it:
Leg slimming injection treatment uses a solution that contains type A botulinum toxin to work on muscle. It has been proven to be safe and effective. The production of human-use medical botulinum toxin was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1992.
How does it work:
Botulinum toxin blocks the signal communication between nerves and muscles, and hence paralyses the muscles. The paralysed muscles will then lose their size without contracting much. When botulinum toxin is injected into the muscle of calves, the muscle will then lose contact with the nerve and its function temporarily. As a result, the muscle will shrink, the fatty appearance in the lower legs will be reduced and slimmer legs will be restored.
Procedure:
1. Face-to-face consultation: Doctor pinches the calves to evaluate the legs condition and provides professional advice on whether or not a leg slimming injection treatment is suitable.
2. Pre-treatment preparation: Local anesthetic. Clean and disinfect the injection areas. Confirm the injection solution.
3. Leg slimming injection: Inject type A botulinum toxin solution (leg slimming solution) into the muscles of calves.
4. Post-treatment precautions.
Duration: 30 mins
Who is it for:
√ People who have thick legs that is muscular typed;
√ People who have strong muscles of calves caused by prolonged sitting, improper exercise position or wear heels frequently;
√ People who have big and muscular calves;
√ People who lack exercise;