Liposuction FAQ

Liposculpture is the artful and permanent sculpting of body contours through the removal of fat deposits. The procedure will leave you with smaller, shapely body contours that are more proportionate to the rest of your body.

It means that we will use very small instruments and place our entry holes in less visible places. We know that you don’t want any visual signs that you have had liposculpture, so we make every attempt to minimize scarring and limit it to areas that are not easily visible.

No. You will be numbed only in the areas being treated. There is no general anesthesia. Local anesthesia means that only the area that we are treating will be numbed, so you will be awake throughout the procedure. This is the safest and most cost efficient way of doing liposuction.

Will I have loose skin?
Because we use a skin tightening technique, your skin will retract to fit your new shape and your skin tone will be comparable to the tone you started with. In other words, if you have loose skin before liposculpture, you will still have loose skin after. There will be less fat, therefore less bulk, but the skin tone will be comparable to what you start with.

There is minimal discomfort due to the local numbing. In fact, once the numbing fluid takes effect you don’t feel much at all except for a little pressure as the fat cells are removed.

Procedures can take from less than an hour to over 2 hours depending on the body parts being treated.

At your initial consultation we will help you to identify the areas that you would benefit most from liposculpture. We will give you realistic expectations of what to expect for potential outcome based on the quality of your skin and fat content. You will also have the opportunity to ask any questions that you may still have.

No. Since many of our patients will fly in from out of town, we do not require consultations. Each patient will receive a thorough consultation prior to starting any procedure. In other words, the consultation and procedure can be done at the same time.

It’s important not to remove too much fat. For optimal smooth results, a thin layer of fat should be left to allow for a smooth consistent skin appearance. In general we can remove 50-70% of the fat that you can pinch.

It depends on how large you are. Our first priority is your safety and we will not put you in danger just to do more procedures. You may be required to come back on a different day to complete the procedure.

We are limited by the amount of local numbing solution we can safely use in one procedure, which is calculated based on your weight. The accepted standard of safety is to remove no more than 5 liters (nearly 1 ½ gallons) of fat in one procedure. Safety is our top priority.

Yes. The fat that we remove will never grow back. But, since not all of the fat cells will be removed, if you gain a significant amount of weight the remaining fat cells may get bigger. The good news is that you will gain the weight proportionately through the remaining fat cells in your body.

There is no way to accurately predict your healing speed but most patients will see 80% of their ultimate liposuction results within one to three months after the procedure. Final results vary from patient to patient and depend on age, areas treated, and the amount of fat removed and individual healing speeds. Some patients see immediate results that improve steadily while others have weeks of swelling. Both of these outcomes are normal.

If a patient does not gain weight after liposculpture, then fat does not accumulate in other areas of the body. However, if a patient gains a significant amount of weight, say more than 10 pounds, after liposculpture, the weight will be deposited in the ares where the fat cells remain. In fact, the fat accumulates in every area of the body in proportion to the amount of fat cells in each area. Areas where fat cells have been removed by liposculpture will accumulate relatively little fat, while areas not treated by liposculpture will collect relatively more fat. For example, if a woman gains weight after liposuction of her hips, outer thighs, and abdomen, then most of the fat will be deposited elsewhere such as the woman’s breasts, face, back and legs.

No. There will be small 2mm holes made in less noticeable areas. There are no holes made in obvious places that are highly visible. The scars themselves will vary from person to person, but in general they are comparable to acne scars and will fade with time. In fact most people can’t even tell where they are after 1 year!

Dimpling and indentations in the skin is a known risk of liposculpture. However skin irregularities are significantly reduced in the hands of a skilled liposculpture specialist. The use of large diameter canulas tends to increase the risk of irregularities, while the use of microcannulas (less than 2.8 mm in outside diameter) reduces this risk. The use of microcannulas and multiple adits (very tiny 1.5 mm round holes placed in the skin) allows the surgeon to make a criss-cross pattern of tiny tunnels throughout the fat which produces smoother liposculpture results compared to using larger canulas and only two or three entrance incisions. When large canulas are used, any inadvertent passage of the canula too close to the skin may leave a depression or furrow, whereas one pass too close to the skin with a microcannula will not leave a visible depression.

The ideal candidate is at or near their ideal weigh, but has small pockets of fat that they wish to remove. The smoother and better elasticity of skin you have prior to your procedure is a good indicator of how smooth your body will heal after your procedure.

Absolutely! Ideal candidates will potentially get the best results. But if you have fat that bothers you, then you will likely benefit from liposculpture.

Probably not. When the heavy wieght of the fat is removed from your abdomen, the skin will retract to fit your new shape. Think of your skin like a water ballon; as you let the water out, the balloon contracts to conform with the water that is left in the balloon. Your skin is much the same. If you still feel that you need a tummy tuck after having liposuction, the procedure will be much easier since the fat has already been removed. Nearly 90% of patients decide not to have tummy tucks after seeing the results of their liposuction.

Yes. Fat located in any area of the body, and especially the abdomen, hips, and under the chin is often resistant to diet or exercise. Similarly, after pregnancy, the fat on the abdomen and hips may persist despite concerted efforts at dieting and exercising.

Yes. Localized accumulations of fat are often inherited and frequently impossible to eliminate by exercise or dieting. After the age of 30, an individual often gains fat according to a genetically predetermined pattern. For these people, liposculpture is literally a dream come true. Liposculpture is the only realistic means of significantly changing the body’s shape. In effect, liposculpture is equivalent to being able to focus the effects of dieting to specific areas of the body.

Every client will heal at a different rate, but most will need 24-72 hours to return to light activities or work. Your soreness will be comparable to a hard workout. Most patients will return to normal activities within 1-3 weeks. Swelling and bruising may take 4-8 weeks to resolve. Occasionally, swelling will come and go for up to 6 months. Your body shape will continue to improve for up to one year.

While liposculpture it is not meant to improve cellulite it may provide slight improvements. You will likely have similar smoothness, but with less bulk. Cellulite is caused by a lack of connective tissue within the fat.

Liposuction is never absolutely necessary. If you decide that liposuction is not for you, then you may consider the following alternatives to liposuction. Weight loss without liposuction can produce excellent aesthetic results. Weight loss can be achieved by dieting (decreased calorie intake) or by increased exercise (expenditure of calories).

Returning to your job depends on quite a few things: 1) How physically strenuous is your job? 2) How many areas are you having treated? 3) What is your personal tolerance for discomfort? With that said, most people will be able to return to work within 1-3 days. Some will be longer and others will be shorter depending on your answers to the questions above. Most of the garments are well hidden under normal loose clothes. They are tight and form fitting so it’s your secret.

The tumescent technique for local anesthesia involves the injection of large volumes of very dilute lidocaine (local anesthetic) and epinephrine (drug that shrinks capillaries) into subcutaneous fat. The word tumescent means swollen and firm. With the tumescent technique, the volume of dilute lidocaine that is injected into fat is so large that the targeted areas literally become tumescent (swollen and firm). The tumescent technique produces profound and long-lasting local anesthesia of the skin and subcutaneous fat. Tumescent liposculpture designates a form of liposuction that uses tumescent local anesthesia.

By eliminating the risks of general anesthesia and the risks of excessive surgical bleeding, the tumescent technique for liposuction totally by local anesthesia has eliminated the greatest dangers associated with the older forms of liposuction.

There is dramatically less bruising with tumescent liposuction totally by local anesthesia compared to other liposuction techniques under general anesthesia. There are two reasons for this significant decrease in bruising. First, because there is so little blood loss with the tumescent technique, there is almost no blood that remains beneath the skin to cause bruising after surgery. The second reason for decreased bruising is that with the tumescent technique there is a considerable amount of post-operative drainage of the blood tinged anesthetic solution. The incisions are so small (about 1.5 mm), the incisions do not require stitches. By allowing these wounds to remain open for two to three days after the surgery, most of the residual blood-tinged anesthetic solution drains out. This minimizes bruising and swelling and accelerates the rate of healing.

The tumescent technique is so effective at minimizing blood loss that the majority of patients lose approximately 15 to 30 ml (1 to 2 tablespoons) of blood during large volume liposuction. This is the same volume of blood that is taken for routine pre-operative laboratory studies. In the days before the advent of the tumescent technique, the biggest risk of liposuction was excessive loss of blood during surgery.

Pregnancy does not permanently alter the results of liposuction. If a woman has liposuction and subsequently becomes pregnant, gains weight, gives birth and finally loses the excess weight of pregnancy, then her original liposuction improvements will return, just as if she had never been pregnant.

As judged by current worldwide experience, liposculpture is amazingly safe. Rare problems that can potentially occur with any surgical procedure include infections, bleeding, skin ulcerations, and nerve injury. The tumescent technique minimizes these risks. To the best of our knowledge, there have been no reported deaths using the tumescent technique for liposculpture. As with any surgical procedure, liposculpture is associated with certain common side effects such as bruising, swelling and temporary numbness. Although irregularities of the skin are possible following liposculpture, this side effect is minimized by tumescent liposuction using microcannulas.

No. Patients are encouraged to walk and to be active after surgery. Most patients who have had tumescent liposculpture can expect to drive a car within 24 to 48 hours, and return to a normal work schedule within 24 to 72 hours. We encourage light exercise as soon as you can tolerate.

The appearance of skin after liposculpture depends on the skin’s elasticity. Skin with good elasticity should look smooth and natural after liposuction. Even with poor skin elasticity, the skin usually looks good after liposculpture. Younger people generally have better skin elasticity than older people. People who have previously been obese and subsequently lost a great deal of weight will have less skin elasticity than someone who has never been obese.

With poor elasticity, liposculpture in some areas of the body (such as the inner thighs or upper abdomen) may show some degree of skin wrinkling. The degree of wrinkling after liposculpture is approximately the same as one might expect if the patient had lost the same amount of fat from the area by dieting. Even with poor skin elasticity, the cosmetic benefits of liposculpture often outweigh any noticeable increase in skin wrinkling.

Liposculpture dramatically improves the appearance of the abdomen in the vast majority of men and women. By removing the heavy fat that causes abdominal sagginess, liposculpture allows the skin’s natural elasticity to retract and elevate the skin. In order for liposculpture to improve abdominal sagginess the skin must have some elasticity and there must be some subcutaneous abdominal fat that can be removed by liposculpture. Only in relativity few cases, where the skin has little or no elasticity and little or no subcutaneous fat, liposculpture cannot improve a sagging abdomen.