If you’ve ever seen “before” and “after” pictures of a liposuction patient—or know anyone who has had the procedure done—you may be aware of how dramatic the transformation can look. Liposuction can eliminate stubborn stores of fat on the body that are completely resistant to diet and exercise. These “trouble spots” include areas like love handles, excess fat under the chin and on the neck, “saddlebags” on the inner and outer thighs, belly fat and more.
Images like these are hard to ignore—and can give you hope of gaining confidence in parts of your body that you’ve never had before. But, before you decide to have any plastic surgery procedure, it’s important that you know you may not be a candidate for a particular surgery due to your goals or health factors. The list below provides insight on some questions your surgeon will use to assess your suitability for liposuction.
Are you in good physical health? In order to be a good candidate for liposuction, you must be a non-smoker, in good general health, and between the ages of 18 and 65. Besides the well-known health problems associated with smoking, it increases the risk of complications from anesthesia. Smoking can also greatly impede healing, increasing your chances of developing an infection post-operatively. We instruct patients to stop smoking three weeks prior to their surgery.
Are you at or close to your ideal weight, and is your weight relatively stable? It can be tempting to look at the dramatic results of liposuction and think of it as the end-all, be-all of weight loss. But, truly, liposuction is not weight loss surgery and this mindset can be detrimental to your long-term satisfaction. It is important to have healthy habits in place before your surgery and consider liposuction as a way to enhance and improve what you are already doing. “Boomeranging” weight loss can be detrimental to your health regardless, and can negatively affect your surgery outcome.
While fat cells that are removed will not regenerate, if you gain weight after your surgery it will change the overall look of your body. Additionally, removing the major amount of fat required to make liposuction a true “weight loss” surgery would carry considerable health risks and result in loose, excess skin that might require further surgery to fix. If you want to make liposuction a part of your plan to achieve and keep your ideal body, it is a good idea to maintain your healthy weight as long as possible prior to surgery. Are your goals realistic? Setting achievable goals is vital to patient satisfaction. Before your surgery, discuss your desires with your surgeon. Browse through his before and after photos to see what results he achieves. Your surgeon will advise you as to whether you can expect the outcome you expect with liposuction alone or if you need an additional procedure, such as a tummy tuck, to achieve your ideal body.
Liposuction is dramatically transformative in patients who are good candidates for the procedure. Your surgeon will consider your desires, assess your overall health and general physical condition, and advise you if are a candidate for liposuction. To find out more about liposuction and how it can help you achieve your goal body, please call (702) 838-2455 to schedule a personal consultation with Dr. Smith.
