Liposuction

Liposuction can improve body contours by removing excess fat deposits located between the skin and muscle. It is an excellent body contouring solution if you have stubborn areas of fat that just won't respond to diet and exercise.

The concept of liposuction is surprisingly simple, and highly effective.

Liposuction is performed using a tumescent or super wet technique, employing a vacuum device to remove localized areas of fat. Ideally, liposuction should remove an amount of fat equivalent to less than a pound or two of butter from a woman's saddlebag area or from a man's love handle area. While this amount of fat is relatively small compared to a person's total body weight, the result is a noticeable, pleasing change in body contours.

Ideal liposuction patients are of average size but are concerned about one or more localized accumulations of fat. Thus, liposuction is not a solution for weight loss. And liposuction won't necessarily eliminate "cellulite," though it can reduce cellulite to a degree.

Liposuction can improve your body shape by removing those stubborn, exercise-resistant fat deposits.

Liposuction begins with a small incision near the area of the body being treated. Excess fat is then removed using a hollow tube, called a cannula. How long the actual liposuction surgery takes depends on the number of areas being worked on, the size of the area, how much fat is being removed and the type of anesthesia being used. Following the procedure, patients do experience soreness in the treated areas. Although this discomfort will subside within a few days, it will take several weeks for all of the areas to completely heal. The important thing to remember is that dramatic changes will not occur overnight. Only after a couple of weeks' time, when the body has completely healed, will you notice a firmer, tighter physique.

After liposuction, you can return to work within 1 to 2 weeks. For more strenuous activity, wait 2 to 4 weeks. Full recovery from swelling and bruising will happen over 1 to 6 months or more. Liposuction can provide permanent improvement in body contours, as long as you don't gain excessive amounts of weight afterwards. If you do gain a moderate amount of weight after liposuction, you will not tend to accumulate as much fat in the liposuction-treated areas.