A Liposuction Education
When you think about cosmetic procedures, chances are good that liposuction is the first to come to mind. The unfortunate truth is that sometimes diet and exercise can’t solve every body image problem, and it may be necessary to seek out more drastic options. If you have an average build that is no more than just slightly above the average weight and you are in good overall health, with firm skin, then liposuction could be the right procedure for you.
You must remember that liposuction is really only for small, localized target areas and is not an ideal solution for the removal of large amounts of body fat. The main reason for this, besides the fact that liposuction is actually a pretty involved process, is that removing large stores of fat can alter the appearance of the skin. If only small amounts are removed, then elastic skin will snap back and will not be affected.
Liposuction is usually performed as an outpatient procedure, though it really depends on the type of liposuction you have chosen. You will be given anesthesia, which may be locally applied. For larger procedures, your doctor may choose to use a general anesthesia, which means that you will be asleep for the duration of the surgery. Once the anesthesia is effective, the doctor will make small incisions in the skin and remove the excess fat through a suction pump or a syringe.
There are different techniques that can be applied to liposuction, which will make the process easier for the surgeon and the patient. First, there is tumescent liposuction, where a saline and painkiller solution is injected into the fatty areas. This helps reduce blood loss and pain after the surgery, but it also makes the fatty deposits easier to remove. The other technique is ultrasound-assisted liposuction, where the fat is liquefied by ultrasonic energy, making it easier to remove from the body.
After you have had liposuction, there are many things that you must keep in mind. First of all, recovery can take several weeks, though the recovery time may be different for each patient. Bruising and soreness will likely linger for a few weeks. Lifting and other strenuous activities should be avoided for several weeks, but you should be able to return to normal activities within two weeks or so.
Your liposuction results are permanent, because you have had fat cells completely removed from the body. This does not mean, however, that you cannot gain weight; your body will just develop fatty areas in new places. This is why it is important that you diet and exercise properly so as not to need future procedures.
As with any surgery, there are risks associated with liposuction. Be sure that your physician is board-certified in plastic surgery, and this will cut down on many of the possible risks. You can avoid most other risks by using common sense and avoiding long procedures that will remove excessive amounts of fat. Otherwise, the risks are reduced to possible infection and skin discoloration.
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