The pad on the outer hip earns a page of its own because it behaves like nothing else on a leg: dense, stubborn at a settled weight, and sitting on a curve that shows every ridge. Dr. Hong Seung-hyuk, Dr. Maeng Woo-jae and Dr. Hong Yeong-ho are the three resident medical directors here, board-certified Family Medicine specialists in aesthetic dermatology, and each of them grades a hip with you upright in front of a mirror, never flattened on a couch.
A saddlebag is the pad on the outer hip that flares a pair of jeans, and at G Clinic it is emptied with G-fat, a mechanical extraction. One micro-entry point is opened over the area, a fine cannula travels the fat layer, and a suction device draws the cells out during the appointment, so the hip is physically lighter by the time you get dressed. The saddlebag counts as one palm-sized area on each side, which makes a pair of hips two areas, and the rate for a single area is shown further down this page. Nothing inside an area is capped, so a dense pad and a modest one are quoted on identical terms. One of the three resident medical directors carries out the work while you lie awake under local anaesthetic. Most hips are finished in one visit, and how many areas your plan needs is agreed at a free consultation.
Four stages inside a single attendance. The director who marks your hips is the director who treats them and the one who reviews them afterwards.
You stand with your weight even on both feet and your hands away from your sides, and the director works around you with a pen. The pad over the greater trochanter is outlined on each side, the flare below it is traced, and the two hips are compared against each other while gravity holds everything where clothing will show it. Your health history is reviewed in the same sitting. The consultation costs nothing and nobody asks for a decision that day.
Local anaesthetic is infiltrated through the marked pad on each hip. There is no sedation as standard: you lie on your side, you can hear music and talk to the team, and you can say what you are feeling as the work proceeds. Sedation exists as an option at an additional cost for patients who would find the session easier that way, and the director will tell you whether it is appropriate for you.
The clinic’s patented special cannula travels the skin and fat layer first, scraping it to prompt tightening over a surface that has to hug a moving joint afterwards. Extraction then follows through that same opening, the device holding a constant pressure into a large canister so nothing has to be swapped mid-procedure. The director checks the leg from the front, the side and behind as the volume comes down, and passes the cannula once more at the end to even the surface.
Compression shorts go on in the treatment room and you are told how many hours a day to keep them there. Almost everyone walks out unaided and gets on with a light afternoon. Follow-up body-care rounds on the clinic’s equipment can be added later where the surface wants help settling, and a review appointment is arranged so both hips can be looked at together.
A saddlebag has a precise address. It is the subcutaneous deposit that sits over the greater trochanter on the outside of the hip and spills a short way down the lateral thigh, the pattern anatomists file under gluteofemoral storage. In a fitting room it is the shelf that makes a garment sit correctly at the waist and pull at the hip. The tissue there is denser and more fibrous than the soft layer over the front of the leg, and it does not respond the same way to anything you do about it.
Density is also what makes the outer hip the classic extraction target. This deposit is laid down as long-term storage; it is the last region to give ground when someone loses weight, and it very often sits on a person who is slim everywhere else. Patients arrive having already done the work, with a stable weight and years of training behind them, and the shelf is exactly where it was. Removing the cells is one of the few interventions that changes that in an afternoon.
How G-fat developed from manual syringe suction through device suction to the current G-Lifting default is set out on the G-fat Fat Dissolving Injection hub, and the surgical category this procedure is most often confused with is described under Liposuction in Korea. This page stays with the hip and the pad that sits on it.
Every record of this area is made standing. A saddlebag flattens the moment you lie down and vanishes altogether when you sit, so an image captured any other way is describing the couch. The clinic photographs from the front, from each side and from behind, since the flare that annoys you in a mirror is usually a three-quarter view, and the same stance and the same light are used again at review so the two records can be compared like for like.
Two hips are almost never a matched pair. Most people carry a fuller pad on the side they habitually stand on, and the difference stays invisible until both are drawn and set beside each other. The director marks each side separately, plans a different amount for each, and keeps checking the balance from all three angles as the extraction proceeds. Symmetry between the sides is judged upright at the follow-up, and a small difference between two hips is a normal outcome that is discussed openly at that appointment.
Patients hunting for saddlebags before and after photographs will find the outer-thigh case pairs collected on the Thigh Fat Dissolving page, each published with the patient’s consent. There are deliberately none on this page. Hips vary so widely in starting shape, skin quality and pelvic width that a gallery here would tell you less than ten minutes upright in front of a director. Individual results may vary in every case, and the photographs elsewhere on this site promise nothing about yours.
The patients who do well hold a weight they can maintain, can take hold of a distinct soft layer over the trochanter, and want the flare in their clothing dealt with while understanding that a set of bathroom scales will barely register the change. This is a contouring procedure aimed at a defined deposit, and a director will always ask what you expect a tape measure to say afterwards.
Several people are declined. Pregnancy and breastfeeding put the procedure aside until that period is over. Uncontrolled medical conditions and certain medications delay it until they are settled. A body mass index of thirty or above is assessed individually and carries a surcharge where treatment goes ahead. And where the width of a hip comes from the pelvis and the angle of the femur, extraction has nothing to take: a director who has examined you will say that in the room, and the assessment that ends in a refusal costs you the same as the one that ends in a booking, which is nothing.
Two further refusals belong to this zone specifically. Where the outer thigh is already dimpled and the skin has lost its spring, taking out the small volume that remains tends to make the surface read worse, so the suggestion there is G-Tight, the ultrasound-based option, or a course of body care. And a leg that swells through the day and pits under a fingertip belongs with a physician before any cosmetic plan is drawn. The equivalent conversation on the medial side is described on the Inner Thigh Fat Dissolving page, and the options that involve no extraction at all are gathered under Non-Surgical Liposuction.
The volume leaves during the appointment, because the fat is carried out of the room in a canister. For the first few days what you see is that drop plus swelling, and a hip held under compression can feel firm and squarer than you expected. The genuine outline emerges as fluid clears and the skin re-adheres over the trochanter across the weeks that follow, and a review appointment is booked into that window so a director sees the hip at the point it starts telling the truth.
The envelope over the hip matters as much as the volume beneath it. This is a convex surface that has to keep its shape while you walk, sit and climb stairs, so how the skin settles carries the result. The G-Lifting pass is aimed squarely at that problem, and the director spends as long assessing your skin at consultation as measuring the pad. Afterwards the clinic’s body-care programme, running on equipment including Noble Shape, Midas, MPR and Coolshape, is used to manage laxity, stretch marks and firm fibrous adhesions while the area beds down.
The cells taken out of the hip do not come back. The cells left elsewhere in your body can still enlarge if your weight climbs, so steady habits are what protect the line you leave with. Some patients pair the visit with skin-quality work such as skin boosters during the same stay. Individual results may vary, and nothing written here forecasts a measurement for your own legs.
This is a minimally invasive medical procedure and its risks are real. Your director names them in the room: bruising, swelling and soreness over the treated hip in the opening days; patches of reduced sensation across the outer thigh, common in this region because the skin nerves there run a long superficial course; and, less frequently, a fluid collection, firm nodules under the skin, looser skin, infection at the micro-entry point, or a visible difference between the two sides.
Contour irregularity deserves its own paragraph here. The outer hip is convex and it is lit from the side by almost every light source in an ordinary room, so a dip or a ridge that would pass unnoticed on a flat abdomen catches a shadow on a hip and reads immediately. That is the reason the extraction is worked from three viewpoints, the reason the special cannula is passed again over the surface at the end, and the reason compression discipline in the weeks afterwards is treated as part of the procedure and never as optional advice.
Tell the clinic your full medical history, every medication and supplement you take, any previous surgery on the hip or leg, and any past reaction to anaesthetic. Afterwards, keep the entry point clean and dry, wear the garment for the hours you were given, and call the clinic quickly if pain, redness, discharge, calf tightness or swelling increases after the first few days. A resident medical director is on site through opening hours, so a doctor can look at the leg the same day.
Compression shorts sit at the centre of aftercare for this area and they go on in the treatment room. They hold the tissue against the muscle over the trochanter, discourage fluid from drifting down towards the knee, and make the opening week noticeably easier. You are told how many hours a day to wear them and for how many weeks. Wearing them loosely is the single most common way patients slow down their own recovery.
Most people leave on their own feet and manage light errands the same afternoon. Short easy walks are encouraged from the start. Sitting is the awkward part of this particular zone, since a chair presses directly onto the treated pad, so a desk day goes better with a timer that gets you up regularly and a seat that is not rock hard. Stairs feel like work for a few days. Bruising and swelling crest around the second or third day and then recede, while firmer patches can stay tender for a week or two.
If you are flying in for this, keep a few days in Seoul afterwards so a director can inspect both hips before you travel, and plan on wearing compression in the air with regular walks along the aisle. Coordinators build the appointment around your itinerary once you send your dates. Patients treating the midsection on the same trip will find that recovery pattern described on the Stomach Fat Dissolving page.
Three categories of treatment aimed at the same bulge, set out so your consultation opens on the right question.
| On the outer hip | Injectable lipolysis course | G-fat saddlebag extraction | Surgical liposuction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the fat goes | Cells shrink and the body clears the contents | Cells are drawn off the hip into a suction canister | Cells are aspirated in an operating setting |
| Openings in the skin | Rows of needle punctures over the pad | A single micro-entry per hip | Small incisions that usually need suturing |
| State you are in | Awake, topical numbing or none | Awake under local anaesthetic, sedation optional | Sedated or under general anaesthesia |
| Attendances | A run of weekly appointments | Usually one for the areas agreed | One operation plus healing |
| When the flare changes | Slowly, across the course | On the day, refining as swelling drains | On the day, after a longer swollen phase |
| Garment afterwards | None | Compression shorts for a set period | Compression for an extended period |
| Well matched to | A thin soft layer | A dense localised pad cleared in one sitting | Very large volumes across the lower body |
This table describes categories of treatment and no clinic other than this one. Where the volume involved is large enough that an operating setting is the sensible answer, the reading is the Liposuction in Korea page, and a resident director will tell you when that is the better conversation.
Suction removal of fat from a conscious patient under tumescent local anaesthesia carries a publication record going back several decades. A technique paper set out a five-incision method for the neck and jowls that combined machine-assisted aspiration with syringe aspiration (Langdon, 2000). Skin retraction after liposuction in patients over the age of 40 has been examined in its own right (Bank, 1999), which speaks to the part of a hip result that depends on the envelope over it. Tumescent anaesthesia at a lidocaine dose of 55 mg/kg has been reported as safe for liposuction (Coleman, 1996), the dosing evidence sitting underneath any procedure performed on someone who is awake. These titles describe a method category. None of them reports outcomes from this clinic, and none of them predicts what your own hips will look like; that discussion belongs with the director who examines you.
The outer hip is charged by area and the rate for one area is the same for every patient who walks through the door. A saddlebag counts as one palm-sized area on each side, so treating the pair counts as two. Inside an area there is no ceiling on how much comes out, meaning a dense pad and a light one sit on identical terms. Optional sedation is a separate line, and a body mass index of thirty or above carries an additional fee confirmed at consultation.
| Treatment | Option | Price (KRW) |
|---|---|---|
| G-fat fat extraction | per area (1 area ≈ one palm-sized zone; both sides = 2 areas) | ₩275,000 |
| G-Lifting (3rd-generation G-fat) | per area (1 area ≈ one palm-sized zone; both sides = 2 areas) | ₩330,000 |
| Ultra G-fat (ultrasound + extraction) | per area (1 area ≈ one palm-sized zone; both sides = 2 areas) | ₩385,000 |
Priced per treated area; sedation optional and BMI 30+ carry an additional fee confirmed at consultation.
All prices in KRW, VAT included. Quoted at consultation; final cost depends on treatment plan. Published rates as of 2026-09-08.
How many areas your own plan needs is settled face to face, and the total is put in front of you in writing before you consent to anything. The consultation that produces that figure is free, including the ones that end with a director telling you the procedure is wrong for your hips.
The name suggests a dissolving shot, but G-fat injection physically removes fat. G Clinic developed it in Gangnam, Seoul, reporting 20,000+ cases since 2018. Local anaesthesia keeps you awake; one micro-entry per area lets a fine cannula with device suction take fat out the same day, priced by palm-sized area. Family members include third-generation G-Lifting, whose special cannula stimulates skin tightening before extraction, and Ultra G-fat, ultrasound plus extraction. Read the full story on the G-fat Injection page.
They are different procedures with different mechanics. An injectable course places a solution that shrinks fat cells so the body clears their contents over a run of weekly appointments. G-fat draws the cells themselves off the hip through a cannula and a suction device in one sitting under local anaesthetic, so the pad is physically smaller when you stand up. Both approaches are compared on the G-fat Fat Dissolving Injection hub.
By area, not by volume. A saddlebag is one palm-sized area on each hip, so the usual plan for a matched pair is quoted as two areas at the rate shown in the pricing section above. The amount extracted inside an area has no ceiling, so the density of your pad does not move the figure. Optional sedation and a body mass index of thirty or above are separate lines confirmed at your consultation.
Because the body treats that deposit as long-term storage and gives it up last. The tissue over the greater trochanter is denser and more fibrous than the soft layer on the front of the thigh, and it is common for someone at a stable, healthy weight to have lost volume everywhere else while the outer hip stays exactly as it was. That resistance is precisely what makes it a straightforward extraction target.
Case pairs for the outer leg, which is what most people mean when they search for saddlebags before and after images, are published on the Thigh Fat Dissolving page with the consent of every patient shown. None appear on this page by choice, because hips differ so much in pelvic width, pad density and skin quality that a gallery here would mislead more than it informed.
No, and that is deliberate. Local anaesthetic is infiltrated through the marked pad and you stay conscious, lying on your side, able to listen to music and speak to the director about what you are feeling as the work goes on. Sedation is available as an option at an additional cost if you would rather be drowsy, and the director will discuss whether it suits your case.
Your director sets the hours per day and the number of weeks at the end of the appointment, since it depends on how much came out and how your skin behaves. The shorts hold tissue against the muscle over the trochanter and stop fluid drifting towards the knee. Wearing them loosely or abandoning them early is the most common reason a recovery drags on longer than it needed to.
Yes, and that is the normal plan. The fat leaves the body on the day, so there is no reason to spread the two sides across separate visits, and treating them together is the only way the balance between them can be judged properly during the session. Both hips are counted as two areas for quoting purposes, and neighbouring leg zones can be added in the same sitting where a director agrees the total is sensible.
It is extremely common, usually on the side you habitually stand on, and it is planned for openly. The director marks each hip separately, sets a different target volume for each, and keeps comparing the two upright from three angles as the extraction proceeds. A small residual difference between two sides is a realistic outcome and is assessed again at the follow-up appointment.
Surface irregularity is a recognised risk of extraction and it shows more readily on a convex hip than on a flat area, because side lighting throws a shadow into any dip. The clinic works the zone from several viewpoints, passes the special cannula over the surface again at the end, and uses the body-care programme afterwards where the area needs help settling. Compression worn as instructed does a great deal of the work.
The cells removed from the treated hip do not return. Fat cells elsewhere in your body can still enlarge if your weight climbs, and that is what changes a silhouette over the years, so keeping your weight steady is what protects the shape you leave with. Nobody at this clinic will tell you the result is placed beyond the reach of future weight gain.
Probably not, and you will be told so at the assessment. Where the skin has already lost its spring and only a small volume remains, taking that volume out tends to leave the surface looking worse than it did. The usual suggestion in that situation is G-Tight, the ultrasound-based option, or a course of body care aimed at firmness. You are welcome to come and be told the answer is no.
Expect bruising, swelling and soreness over both hips in the first days, along with patches of reduced sensation across the outer thigh that fade over weeks. Less commonly patients see contour irregularity, a fluid collection, firm nodules, skin laxity, infection at the entry point, or asymmetry between the sides. Contact the clinic promptly if pain, redness, discharge or swelling increases once things should be settling.
Send your details and travel dates through the consultation form and a coordinator will reply in English on the messenger you prefer. You can ask about area counts, compression, how many days to keep in Seoul, or how the visit sits alongside other zones such as the Upper Arm Fat Dissolving page or facial work like Face Lifting. The consultation itself is free.
Book a free consultation in Gangnam, Seoul and one of the three medical directors will mark both sides, tell you how many areas your plan needs, and say plainly if the width you dislike comes from bone instead of fat. Each area is quoted at the rate shown above, and the plan is fixed in the room.
Book ConsultationEvery consultation and procedure at G Clinic is conducted on site by one of three resident medical directors — never handed to a substitute practitioner. All three are Family Medicine specialists who have cared for international patients for years.
G Clinic runs consultation-based G-fat lipolysis courses and non-surgical body-contouring programs for localized fat. Your course is planned by a resident director; pricing is shared at your free consultation — the same figures are quoted to every patient, with no separate visitor markup.
A resident director reviews your target areas — abdomen, arms or thighs — and plans a G-fat course spaced over a short series of sessions. Suitability and number of sessions are decided one-to-one at your free consultation.
Ask at consultationNon-surgical body-contouring options for localized fat that resists diet and exercise. Your director explains what each program does and what to expect before anything is scheduled.
Ask at consultationThe G Clinic name dates to a 2012 device-maker advisory appointment. Each recognition below is stated as issued by its organisation.
Verified reviews from our Google Business Profile.
Yesterday, I had a fat extraction procedure from Dr. Hong Young-ho. The staff, especially the doctor, were so kind that it was very comfortable. Right after the procedure, it was just a little uncomfortable yesterday because of swelling, but today there is almost no pain and I'm waiting for the swelling to go away to see the beautiful res…
Recommendations are made based on actual circumstances. The attitude is very good. Highly recommended.
I cannot recommend G-clinic highly enough. From the moment I walked in, my experience was nothing short of exceptional. The clinic itself is modern, clean, and welcoming. The front desk staff were incredibly warm and efficient. Checking in was a breeze, and they were very helpful with my new patient paperwork. The waiting time was minimal…
Process was perfect! I got some liposuction done, the doctor and staff were very nice and very professional. 100% would recommend anyone to get there procedures done here! They took out A LOT of fat! The doctor speaks perfect English as well!
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