Politically Correct Names For Unwanted Body Fat (Do You Have This Kind of Fat)

Every so often a patient comes into the office with a complain using an unusual term to describe a troubling area of localized fat. When this occurs you have to admit that you are "not in the know"by being blunt and inquire as to what they are talking about. Many of us would rather pretend we understand this new political lingo which seems to have invaded our culture. However, in the practice of medicine certain things remain constant but they these constants are starting to change or evolve to fit our politically correct society.

Several weeks ago tabloid magazines were filled with photographs of actress Kristy Alley's Cankles. Well, if you have never heard this term before you may be baffled.
The cankle is a term designed to describe a fat-calf ankle, where there is no visual distinction between the calf and the angle. When this term is used it is usually derogatory.

Two weeks ago a patient asked if Mesotherapy can treat her chub rub. This caught me off guard as I had never heard this term before. I reluctantly broke down and admitted I did not know what she was talking about. She laughed and said, "It's the fat between my inner thighs." She went on to say all her friends use this term to describe fat to inner thighs which rub together. This one was a shocker, but now I am in the know.

The banana roll is an interesting term. It took me some time to come to terms with this one. I am still embarrassed to tell patients I can fix their banana roll. The banana roll is the fat immediately beneath the buttocks which looks like a banana. This area of fat is very difficult to get rid off with diet and exercise. It is very common after liposuction.

Muffin tops is used quite commonly to describe the love handles or the visible fat above the waist line when wearing low cut jeans. This is another term I learned from a patient.

My all time favorite term is bat wings. Very few people will know this term. Several of my patients in the 50s age range refer to this unwanted fat on the underside of their arms as bat wings. The first time I heard this descriptive term I really had to keep a serious face, frankly, I wanted to crack up laughing. I was just trying to imagine the patient outstretched arms flapping.

Although the above terms are not medical or standard anatomical terms they certainly reflect the current trend to be politically correct. Being politically correct in its simplest form is intended to soften the impact of a traditional term and in the process we may create a new term to describe a previously non described problem, such as cankles, chub rub, banana roll and bat wings. So in essence, these are really modern words to describe unwanted fat which produces a cosmetic problem.

Dr. Lionel Bissoon
Author of The Cellulite Cure
www.cellulitecure.com