On each side of the hips, just under the pelvic bones, some have a slight hollow. Called “hip dips” on social networks, these small irregularities raise many questions. Where exactly do they come from? Are they related to weight? And above all, can we erase them permanently? Dr Yaël Berdah, plastic and aesthetic surgeon in Paris, takes stock.
Perfectly normal dips
First takeaway: hip dips are not an anomaly. They are above all linked to the morphology of each person.
“It is an anatomical variation like any other. It depends in particular on the position of the femur, which will fit with the pelvis,” explains Dr Yaël Berdah.
The shape of the pelvis, the way in which the femur articulates with it, but also the distribution of muscles, tendons and fatty tissues will influence the appearance of this area.
“Depending on the insertion of the femur and the inclination of the tendons, the buttock can in fact appear more rounded or more hollow. In other words, the appearance observed depends above all on the anatomical structures present as well as the trophicity of the tissues. continues the expert.
Some people will therefore naturally have a more rounded relief, while others will have a more marked hollow. And the amount of fat present also plays a key role here.
“If you have a well-developed panniculus of fat, this hollow may be present, but it will be more masked by the volume of the fat. The buttock will then appear a little rounder. Conversely, when the fat mass decreases, particularly after weight loss, the hollow tends to become more marked”,
confirms the surgeon.
This is why losing weight is not necessarily the solution when you want to reduce these hollows. For some people, weight loss can even make them more visible.
Hip dips: why do they become more visible with age?
Like the rest of the body, the hips and buttocks change over time. The muscles gradually lose volume and the skin becomes less toned.
“The older we get, the thinner the tissues become. Older people often have more of this type of hollowness, just like menopausal women, who are subject to hormonal changes,” underlines the expert. Indeed, during this key period, several factors influence the relief of the hip. For example, we observe muscle wasting and a reduction in collagen in the absence of regular physical activity during menopause.
“The tissues then lose tone, while the supporting fats tend to become thinner. The buttock holds up less well. The muscles will also gradually atrophy,”
specifies the practitioner.
Result: the hips tend to widen more over the years.
Sport, lipofilling, injections: what solutions to reduce them?
When these low points are a source of complexity, they can be the subject of appropriate support.
“If you are bothered by these dips in the hips, certain lifestyle habits can actually reduce them. On the other hand, trying to lose more weight will not necessarily help; on the contrary, weight loss can sometimes accentuate the phenomenon.” warns the expert.
The specialist recommends above all to turn to “targeted muscle strengthening”.
“The most effective solution is based on weight training and strengthening the gluteal muscles, which visually reduce these hollows.”
Then, when this is not enough, it is possible to resort to filling techniques. The first is to reinject your own fat into the affected area. “Lipofilling, which consists of transferring fat taken from another area of the body, works well. In this case, the injections must be carried out very superficially, to limit the risks, particularly of embolization.”
Another option: hyaluronic acid injections.
“However, this solution has two major disadvantages: it is not durable, because the product ends up being absorbed, and the risk of infection is higher. It is therefore a more short-lived and generally more expensive option,”
says the surgeon.
Nevertheless, for Dr Berdah, lipofilling remains the most durable and safest technique.
“Approximately 70% of the grafted fat takes. Then, once the fat has taken and that the volume obtained suits us, it is for life”, she confides, provided of course that your weight remains relatively stable.
Ultimately, hip dips are neither a defect nor a sign of a health problem. And if it is possible to reduce them, notably through sport or certain aesthetic techniques, they simply reflect… the diversity of body types!