Contouring your Body with Liposuction

Contouring your Body with Liposuction

Some people have excess body fat in certain areas of their bodies that don’t seem to shrink despite their best efforts through diet and exercise. This excess body fat is soft and located just below the skin, but it can cause your body to look softer, more rounded, and less defined. Many patients are unsatisfied with this appearance and seek to achieve or restore a much more toned body silhouette. Fortunately, this is possible thanks to a procedure known as liposuction. 

Liposuction permanently gets rid of body fat, eliminating unsightly bulges and helping patients to achieve a sleeker, toned shape that is desirable. 

 

What is Liposuction?

Liposuction is a very popular form of cosmetic surgery that aims to remove stubborn pockets of fat that aren’t responding to diet and exercise. Although these can occur anywhere on the body, they are particularly common on the abdomen, hips, buttocks, thighs, flanks, and upper arms. Liposuction is usually only performed in one area at a time, but it may be possible to have multiple areas targeted at once. This is something you will have to discuss with your surgeon. 

Liposuction is classed as being minimally invasive since it is carried out through very small, keyhole incisions in your body. However, it is still usually performed using general anesthetic which ensures that you are asleep throughout the process. The first part of your liposuction procedure will involve saltwater being injected into the area that you are targeting. This breaks up the fat cells which will make the second part of the process much easier. This is where a long, thin tube called a cannula is inserted through the incisions to remove the fat cells. The cannula is attached to a vacuum which sucks the broken-up fat cells through the center of the cannula and along a tube into a container. The cannula must be worked backward and forward to continue to loosen the fat so that the fat can be removed. 

 

After Liposuction

The duration of your liposuction procedure will depend on the area that you are targeting and how much excess fat you would like removed. However, most procedures can be performed in under three hours. Afterward, the area will be dressed in compression bandages which will help to control the swelling and increase the rate at which you heal. Your surgeon will talk to you about how long you can expect to stay in hospital and what to expect from your recovery process. 

Since the incisions used for liposuction are so small, healing is usually a fairly rapid process and it is the shorter recovery and faster results that make liposuction a desirable procedure. 

 

Candidates for Liposuction

Before you can undergo liposuction, you’ll first need to have a consultation with your cosmetic surgeon to make sure that the procedure is right for you. This process will involve several elements.

• Asking you about your goals to ensure that liposuction is the best cosmetic procedure to help you achieve them.

• Finding out which area of the body that you wish to target and why, to be certain that you are choosing liposuction for the right reasons.

• Making sure that you are healthy and able to undergo a procedure using general anesthetic with minimal risk.

• Giving you important information about what you can expect from the procedure and the results. 

• Ensuring that you have realistic expectations for the outcome of your surgery. 

If you are considering liposuction and you would like more information about the procedure, or if you would like to schedule a confidential consultation, please contact our knowledgeable and discreet cosmetic plastic surgery team in Plano, TX