- Dr. Nicolas Zwillinger, Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery
According to Statista (the world’s most reliable statistics website), liposuction is the second most sought-after cosmetic surgery in France,justbehind rhinoplasty.
Much has been written on this topic, but myths and misconceptions abound. As a result, many people have the wrong idea about what is and isn’t possible with liposuction.
Here are 5 things you should know about liposuction before considering the procedure.
Just because it can be performed under local anesthesia using thin 0.4-cm cannulas inserted through small incisions—and is often done on an outpatient basis—does not mean it is any less serious than any other type of cosmetic surgery. Postoperative bruising and swelling are inevitable.
You may experience significant fatigue, especially when a large amount of fat is removed. Your hemoglobin levels may be affected and drop.
This is why you should choose a board-certified surgeon with an excellent reputation for liposuction. But that doesn’t mean the procedure is risk-free. No surgery is risk-free.
Even if you weigh slightly less after recovering from liposuction, a certain amount of pure fat can be removed in a single procedure. Liposuction is very effective at reshaping the body and removing fat cells from areas that generally do not respond to diet or exercise.
This procedure removes only fat deposits in the superficial layers; for example, it can remove the fat in the love handles, which is very difficult to eliminate. However, intra-abdominal fat deposits in the deep layers and around the organs cannot be removed by liposuction.
Removing fat tissue through liposuction does not always cause the skin to shrink to fit the treated area. This explains why, after liposuction, some people are left with loose skin, especially if they were previously significantly overweight or had a lot of excess skin. In such cases, a “facelift” procedure will be necessary to remove the excess skin, which can be performed during your liposuction.
I previously shared an article on my official website about when we can see the final results of liposuction; you can find the link here.
In summary, the final results of liposuction can only be fully appreciated 6 to 9 months after the procedure. This amount of time is often necessary for the tissue, which has been temporarily traumatized during the procedure, to settle.