One of the more mainstream cosmetic procedures available today is liposuction. This fat-removal surgery has gained considerable interest for its capacity to rapidly alter a patient’s body shape and weight without any serious detrimental effects. Between health concerns, certain career choices, and some people just unhappy with their reflection, the number of liposuction patients has grown steadily over the past few years.
It is important to go into liposuction with realistic expectations and a firm grasp of whether or not it will truly yield the desired results. Here is what you need to know if you are considering liposuction.
Who is a good candidate for liposuction?
Liposuction is not recommended for everyone who is overweight. In fact, not all overweight people are even eligible for liposuction. Although it can theoretically be applied to excess fat deposits anywhere on the body, there are plenty of reasons why an overweight individual wouldn’t be a good candidate. The most common of these is that the individual in question is still gaining weight. Liposuction is generally for those who have a stable body weight that resists conventional weight loss measures as opposed to someone still actively gaining. Patients should have good skin tone and be within roughly 30 percent of their ideal body weight as well.
The wrong reasons for liposuction
Many patients pursue liposuction out of reluctance to commit to a healthy lifestyle or out of perceived social or professional standards. Liposuction should be used only as a way to make yourself healthier if nothing else has worked; it is not a substitute for a healthy lifestyle. In a similar vein, liposuction must be accompanied by realistic expectations of the results and a commitment to keep the weight off; anything else will, ultimately, prove unhelpful to the patient.
What happens during liposuction?
Before the procedure, your doctor will hold a consultation with you to determine problem areas and what amount of fat you would like removed. You may be given specific dietary instructions or medications to take before having liposuction. On the day of the procedure, your doctor will likely make a series of marks on your skin to indicate where the fat needs to be removed.
Because it is a highly localized procedure, liposuction is sometimes performed without general anesthesia. Your doctor will numb the area and may use a saline injection to swell the skin and make the fat easier to separate from the body. A miniscule tube called a cannula is connected to a vacuum and inserted into the fat deposits; depending on the exact nature of your case, other implements such as a surgical laser or ultrasound probe may be used to loosen the fat tissue before it is suctioned away.
What Can I Expect After?
After the procedure, you may have swelling, bloating, redness, and bruising. You may feel mildly uncomfortable. You may be asked to wear some type of compression to keep the swelling down and help with the healing process. Some of the swelling may last as long as six weeks, but after a few days, you should be relatively comfortable. You will have some small scars where the instruments were inserted.
Conclusion
Liposuction is a powerful and proven method to take off fat that makes you uncomfortable or unhealthy. It can quickly cause the kind of change that might take months to achieve with conventional weight loss. Patients need to have realistic expectations and realize that liposuction does not absolve one of living a healthy lifestyle.
Written by Shlomo Witty
