Fat on your back? Sure, you could cut it out...

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Buy a blouse that doesn’t fit quite so snugly? Or have the flab in your upper and middle back surgically removed? Headlines would suggest there’s only one way to go.

Bye, bye back fat? asks U.S. News & World Report. ‘For many women, unsightly bumps and bulges above and below the back of their bra can make body-hugging fashions a nightmare,’ the story begins.

New surgery removes fat on your back, says WebMD. ‘Forget the facelift, how about sprucing up the old back?’ the report continues.

Cutting ‘back fat’ all the rage, says the Washington Times. ‘Forget mommy makeovers, lip plumps, breast enhancement, thigh reductions and tummy tucks,’ the story says. ‘The ‘bra-line back lift’ is now upon the nation.’

The coverage is spinning off a news release about a study to be published in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The study -- an analysis of a skin-removal operation in seven (just seven) women -- describes excision of the flab and the placement of the resulting scar (under the bra line).

The story in U.S. News points out that the procedure may be most appreciated by people who have lost a lot of weight and can’t get rid of the excess skin; other reports suggest the new procedure could be an option for women who simply want to wear body-hugging clothes but, despite diet and exercise, simply can’t smooth out their backs.

Yet to be raised is the question of whether, in some cases at least, a larger size of clothing might be a better way to go.

-- Tami Dennis