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Criteria
for surgery is realistic expectations and good health, not
age or body type.
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No
aspirin products 10 days before surgery.
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MAO
Inhibitors drugs, diet pills and herbal remedies may need to
be stopped.
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Surgery
takes approximately 2-4 hours under general anesthesia as an
outpatient.
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Tiny
incisions (1 stitch) are placed in inconspicuous areas.
Several sites can be treated in one operative setting. My
fee is based on operative setting not number of sites.
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Someone
must drive you home and stay with you for the next 24 hours.
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First
postop office visit is in 24-48 hours. You may need a
driver.
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This
is a cosmetic surgery, not covered by insurance. Fees are
paid in advance.
Skin in the operative site will feel numb at first.
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I
use external ultrasound (not internal) sound
waves to soften the fat before suctioning
which gives the added benefit of less bleeding, bruising and
soreness, the ability to remove more fat safely and much
better skin recoil.
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Just
because this is a want and not a need
doesn’t mean it’s any different than any other surgery.
It has all the same consequences - including pain.
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Pain
medication and antibiotics scripts are called to your
pharmacy in advance.
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Most
patients wear a girdle or binder for 3-6 weeks. Girdle
position is important.
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Anticipate
a blood tinged drainage to leak from the incisions for a day
or two. Wear loose fitting, old, dark colored clothing to
the surgery center because you're bound to get a stain on
it.
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Not
a treatment for weight loss - meant only to change contour
in problem areas - but, with realistic expectations, it
doesn't mean you have to be the perfect height and weight to
be a good candidate for surgery. I've seen many a patient
motivated to exercise and loose weight after this procedure
treats a problem area.
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Skin
recoil is unpredictable and individual but felt to be close
to what's expected after weight loss.
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This
surgery is at a level deep to the skin so skin level
imperfections persist.
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The
inner thigh can be prone to rippling or dimpling.
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When
you remove the fat you also remove some body fluid. If you
were to remove too much at one time, the body's fluid
balance could be upset. Problems you've heard about on the
talk shows are generally related to this. Liposuction is
safe when performed on healthy patients in proper operating
rooms by properly trained physicians.
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How
much fat to remove is a judgment call. I can always take out
more but I can't put it back. If ever in doubt, I tend to be
conservative. Some patients want more done later.
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Once
the fat cells are removed they do not come back. Weight gain
increases the amount of fat within each cell
present but does not increase the number of
cells. If you overeat, you'll gain weight, all over,
but it will always be more proportionate.
I have seen fat from above shift into an operative
site.
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You'll
see the most change in the first 3-6 weeks. Final results in
6-12 months.
