What are the common side effects of liposuction?
The most common side effects of liposuction is bruising, swelling and pain. Every liposuction patient will experience these temporary issues that take up to six weeks after surgery to go completely away. The skin overlying the treated areas will also be temporarily numb but full feeling will return.
What are the benefits of liposuction?
The best benefit of liposuction is to be able to remove unwanted fat areas that you haven’t been able to remove on your own through diet and exercising. Liposuction is not a weight loss method but a spot removal method for specific targeted areas.
When should I expect to see positive results following the liposuction procedure?
Even the day following surgery, positive improvement will be seen. When you take off the garments to shower, there should already be visible changes despite whatever swelling and bruising is present. The final results from liposuction, however, take a full three months to see as the final small amounts of swelling go away.
How do I find an experienced liposuction surgeon?
Besides searching for a physician who is board-certified specifically in plastic surgery (trained to do it), you should also assess their experience. This can be gathered initially by looking at what is on their website in terms of before and after results for liposuction. To those plastic surgeons who do the procedure regularly, they will have an ample number of representative results to show. Then arrange a consultation and see if there is a good ‘match’ and you feel comfortable. Ask their office to refer you to patients that they have done the procedure recently. (in the past 3 months) Those patients will have a fresh commentary on the actual experience that can be very helpful in your assessment process.
How does the Tumescent liposuction technique result in better and smoother results?
The concept of Tumescent liposuction is not new nor is it some special form of liposuction. Every liposuction procedure performed uses the tumescent or fluid infiltrating technique. It is an essential part of liposuction and must be done to reduce the horrible bleeding and bruising that would otherwise occur. Tumescence, also known as Hunstad infiltration, is a special fluid mixture that is first infused into the tissues prior to the liposuction procedure. When done awake, it provides both a numbing and hemostasis effect. When the patient is asleep, it provides hemostasis and some postoperative pain relief.
What is high definition liposuction (6-pack etching)?
Six-pack liposuction, or abdominal etching, is used on fairly lean and athletic patients who want to create the outline of the abdominal muscle inscriptions. It uses a thin liposuction cannula to create troughs over the location of these muscular landmarks. By removing extra fat along these very specific lines, the skin will develop linear indentations that look like very cut abds.
What is the new waistline reduction method with the Silhouette Corset Sutures?
The waistline suturing method is not really liposuction nor is it a tummy tuck either. Rather, this method usesa belly button incision to place special coned sutures across the abdominal wall to create a corset tightening effect. While it sounds appealing due to it being less invasive, it remains unclear as to who the best candidates are for it and whether the results it produces are long-lasting and signficiant. Whether this method of waistline narrowing will go the way of the suture facelift remains to be seen.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana