liposuction pitfalls- part I

Posted on October 5, 2009

Liposuction is tricky.  I do a lot of liposuction;  I have published on liposuction; I fix other people’s liposuction.

There are pitfalls and risks to liposuction.  If you can lose the weight on your own, do it.  I think liposuction is great for diet and exercise resistant fat, but there can be issues. I do not candy coat these risks, among them irregularities, discoloration, sensory change, and loss of result if you gain weight.  If you have loose skin, are older with poor skin tone, or have a large amount of fat removed, you will get some irregularities.

I believe using machines like ultrasonic energy or laser energy are good to help break up fat, allowing more, smooth fat removal.  I believe you need an assortment of cannulas in different shapes and sizes.  I believe you need to come at things from different angles to achieve smooth fat removal.  I believe you should not treat one area like your outer thighs- your fat comes in units ( “the thighs” “the torso” ) and should be treated as a unit to prevent funny body shape in the future.  I believe you need a board certified anesthesia doctor who understands how liposuction and tumnescent is different from other surgeries to give your anesthesia.

Currently, what I see scares me.  Smart lipo, slim  lipo, and other laser liposuction companies need to sell machines.  There aren’t many board certified plastic surgeons, so they target other specialties like family practice, ob / gyn, even internal medicine.

Recently I have seen a slew of patients coming in for a tummy tuck. One patient called my office frantically, “I need to come in immediately, I had liposuction of my belly.  They removed a lot of fat, but now I need you to do a tummy tuck.”  When I met her, I knew her doctor was not a plastic surgeon.  She had loose skin, very irregular fat removal, and thick fat which had not been touched on her love handles and back. The correct surgery for her would have been a tummy tuck, with liposuction of her back and love handles.  Instead, because of her liposuction on her belly, her skin is scarred in a wrinkled, uneven pattern.  It is loose on the surface, but now will not stretch because of the scar under her skin from her liposuction.  I can’t pull out the wrinkles.  I can’t fix it.

Anyone can call themselves a plastic surgeon.  Anyone can decide “I will do liposuction” and start doing it.  You need to do your research ahead of time.  A nonplastic surgeon can’t do a tummy tuck.  They don’t have the same decision making, because they can’t do the other surgical procedures. They don’t understand sometimes the fat you leave behind is more important.  Doing liposuction right the first time is important.