Liposuction is a cosmetic surgery treatment that allows individuals to reshape and contour areas of their bodies.
As you age, body fat can distribute itself in undesirable places, such as your upper thighs, arms, and stomach. While diet and exercise can help you maintain or lose weight, it’s impossible to spot treat areas. Liposuction provides a solution that allows people to remove fat in unwanted places.
At Rios Center for Plastic Surgery, we offer liposuction procedures to patients interested in removing pockets of body fat.
What Is Liposuction?
Liposuction is a cosmetic surgical procedure that helps patients eliminate unwanted pockets of body fat. Sometimes, people mistakenly believe that liposuction will help them lose weight; however, that’s not true.
Liposuction is not a weight-loss tool. Instead, it helps with body contouring and reshaping. It eliminates fat that won’t budge with a healthy diet and exercise.
We can perform liposuction procedures on most areas of the body. Some of the most common treatment areas include:
- Chest
- Upper arms
- Inner thighs
- Bra line area
- Backs of thighs
- Hips and buttocks
- Abdominal region
- Knees and ankles
- Underneath the chin and along the neck
You can use liposuction procedures to treat a single part of the body or multiple body areas. When you schedule a consultation, we’ll discuss your goals and establish a customized treatment plan for you.
What Happens During a Liposuction Treatment?
Liposuction treatment is an outpatient surgical procedure that typically requires less than two hours to perform. We begin the treatment by providing you with local or general anesthesia, depending on your preferences and the breadth of your procedure.
Once you’re numb, we’ll make an incision in the area where you want to remove fat. Next, we’ll insert a mix of saline and epinephrine into the tissue, which will cause the fat to harden and swell. The solution makes it easier to remove the fat from the area and restricts the blood vessels, which can reduce the time it takes for you to recover.
After the fat swells, we’ll insert a cannula, or tiny tube, to remove it from your body. Once we’ve removed the fat, we’ll stitch up the incisions and complete the procedure.
Following the procedure, you’ll spend some time in our recovery room before you can return home.
Full recovery time from a lipo procedure varies depending on the treatment. Procedures that cover small areas of the body, like the chin, may only require a few days of downtime. More extensive lipo typically requires a week or two for recovery.
What Are the Advantages of Liposuction?
There are several benefits to undergoing a liposuction procedure.
Removes Unwanted Body Fat
The primary reason people seek out liposuction is to remove pockets of undesirable body fat. Despite their best efforts at diet and exercise, they may still have fat that doesn’t respond to their hard work. Liposuction eliminates body fat in targeted areas, allowing patients to contour their bodies in preferred locations.
Removes Fat Permanently
Liposuction permanently removes fat cells from targeted areas. Once they’re gone, the fat cells disappear for good. Since you’re born with a specific number of fat cells, removing them is permanent. New cells will not form.
However, that doesn’t mean that the remaining fat cells can’t grow more prominent if you don’t maintain a healthy diet and exercise program.
Can Improve Your Health
While liposuction doesn’t cure obesity or make you lose weight, it does result in losing some fat. Depending on the areas you treat, you may lose up to several pounds from the procedure. Following the procedure, many patients experience a boost in their desire to maintain their results. They may eat healthier or spend more time exercising.
Contours Your Body
Most people have body areas they’d like to slim down. Liposuction can provide the look you’re seeking if you’d like to reduce a slight bulge on your waistline or extra inches in your upper arms.
Patients who undergo lipo obtain the spot treatment they’re looking for that isn’t possible through exercise alone.
Offers a Quick Recovery Time
Unlike other cosmetic surgeries, liposuction doesn’t require extensive downtime. Depending on the extent of your procedure, you may need only a few days before you can return to your normal activities. More extensive treatments may require a few weeks of downtime.
Pairs Well with Other Treatments
You can combine liposuction with other cosmetic surgeries or procedures to achieve your desired aesthetic. Some patients combine liposuction with a breast augmentation or tummy tuck, while others include it with a facelift. We can work with you to determine the procedures that will help you meet your treatment goals.
How Long Does Liposuction Last?
The results from liposuction are permanent. Once we remove the targeted fat cells from your body, they’re gone forever. The body cannot reproduce fat cells. However, the remaining fat cells can enlarge if your weight changes.
Following a lipo treatment, it’s essential to maintain your weight through a healthy diet and regular exercise. If you gain weight, the contouring effects of liposuction can diminish. It’s also possible to gain inches in other locations of the body where they weren’t previously present.
Liposuction Can Help You Contour Your Body
If you’re considering liposuction to contour and shape specific body areas, contact Rios Center for Plastic Surgery in Edinburg, TX, today.
We’ll meet with you to understand your treatment goals and make sure that you’re a good candidate for the procedure before scheduling you for liposuction. If you have questions about liposuction, prepare a list of inquiries so we can answer them.
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