A not infrequent request by male clients is the “six pack” stomach and if there is a cosmetic procedure to enhance/produce it.
The look of a “six pack” stomach is created by a very well trained midline
muscle group – two about 10cm wide muscles on each side of the midline running
from the chest bone to the bone underlying the pubic hair. The muscle bulk is
joined in the midline by connective tissue creating a midline groove – in
ladies we like to call it the “champaigne groove” – and divided horizontally
by two connective tissue strands on each side resulting in six individual
bulges – the “six pack”.
This is the structure in an ideal situation. Again, structure is beauty.
Now for the structure to show through the skin needs to be almost devoid of
any underlying fat and apposed to the muscles like a tight fitting body glove.
From the previous lines it follows:
– if there is too much skin in should be removed in an abdominoplasty like
procedure (e. g. after considerable weight loss or skin with striae that has
lost its elasticity)
– if there is too much fat under the skin it needs to be sculpted by
liposuction/liposculpture
– considerable exercise is necessary to actually build up the muscles
In a less than ideal situation the muscles are not closely joined in the
midline. Bringing them together surgically obliterates with high likelihood
the midline groove once and for all and may also interfere with future
exercise regimens.
The distinctiveness of the horizontal connective tissue bands varies between
individuals. If less distinct, individual bulges may not form with exercise
and the abdomen is just athletic and flat.
Depending on the elasticity of the skin as determined by age, sun exposure,
ethnicity, nutrition, certain medications, smoking habits and hormones even thin skin without much fat may not
contract tightly enough to show the underlying muscles well.
Males also tend to have more fat inside the abdominal cavity inaccessible to
surgical sculpting or removal than under the skin as opposed to females. This
explains in part why body contouring is so successful as a whole in females
and why so many more female abdominoplasties are performed than male ones.
So to answer the desire for the “six pack” stomach wall – yes, there is a procedure which could potentially achieve that shape.