No recurrence in calf reduction

No recurrence in calf reduction ?

Partial resection of Gastrocnemius muscle has no risk of recurrence . 

1. How does muscle resection work ?

Partial resection of Gastrocnemius muscle removes muscle directly and reduce the number of muscle fibers in Gastrocnemius muscle.
Surgical removal is the only way to reduce the number of muscle fibers.
Because the number of muscle fiber doesn't change after adolescent, the result of surgery is permanent.

In calf reduction, about 70 % of Gastrocnemius muscle is removed and only 30% remains to maintain the shape of natural calf.
The remained 30 % of muscle fiber can become bigger in volume with excessive exercise like body building, the change is minimal after surgery because there are few remained.
So, patients can do any exercise after calf muscle resection without fear of recurrence. 




2. The other muscles in calf
How about the other muscles in calf ?
Can it grow more after calf muscle resection ?

The other muscles in calf can grow bigger with exercise of course.
But the other muscles in calf are deep muscle which is encircled in strong muscle fascia.
So, growing of other muscles in calf is not noticeable.
Because Gastrocnemius muscle is superficial muscle, slight volume change in Gastrocnemius muscle is noticeable and makes calf look awful.
In other words, reducing Gastrocnemius muscle effectively change the shape of calf and makes calf look much thinner and longer.

 

3. Recurrence in nerve ablation and radiofrequency
Nerve block to muscles in calf can make the muscle atrophied.
Why is nerve block recurred so frequently ?

Even though muscle can't be regenerated, nerve can be regenerated very easily.
Nerve is the most easily regenerating structure in our body.

As you can see in below picture, nerve injury can make the distal muscle atrophied in 2 weeks.
After 3 weeks of nerve injury, the atrophy of muscle becomes peak.
That's the reason why most calf nerve block pictures are taken after 3 to 4 weeks.
After 3 weeks, nerve can grow and innervate distal muscle easily and muscle can become normal again.
This means nerve block is destined to be recurred.

 

During this atrophy and regeneration of nerve, the distal muscle loose some volume.
But the change is so inntoceable that most patients can't be satisfied with the result of calf nerve block.
In the second nerve block, the effect is less noticeable than the first trial.
This means repeated nerve block has little meaning.

Most patients seek muscle resection after disappointing and being tired of repetition of nerve block.
What a waste of time, money, and pain !
In addition, this patients may have less satisfactory result with muscle resection because of the scarring from nerve block.

Even though most people know nerve block is ineffective, many patients still undergo this because it is less scary, cheaper, and simpler.
But that is not wise choice for calf surgery.
The more you know, the better you can choose.

4. 2 years after surgery
One of my patients visited me after 2 years of calf reduction because of other procedures.
Not only her upper calf but also her lower calf looked slimmer. 
Before surgery, she had muscular and heavy looking calf with circumference of 36 cm.
After 2 year of surgery, she still had slimmer and longer looking calf with circumference of 32 cm.
Her Achilles tendon in lower calf was reduced also in size because it was atrophied with smaller Gastrocnemius muscle.
In addition, she is no longer afraid of recurrence and is actively participating in her extreme sports.
What a surprise !

She asked me to advertise this calf muscle resection more because many patients are still wasting their time, money, and pain for ineffective calf nerve ablation.
If she knew this procedure earlier, she should have been happier in her younger days and didn't have to undergo many times of nerve block. 



copyright reserved for OZ Cosmetic Clinic
Hyuncheol Park MD
www.ozclinic.com