Liposuction Procedures:
- New advances in liposuctioning have made this popular procedure safer with less recovery time. Here is a brief summary of current liposuctioning techniques.
- The tumescent technique first instills a large amount of salt water mixed with adrenalin and xylocaine into the fat with a small needle. The adrenalin constricts the blood vessels and helps reduce bleeding and bruising. The xylocaine helps reduce post-operative discomfort. The tumescent fluids also make the fat cells easier to remove, by putting hydrostatic pressure on them, and the fluids also reduce blood loss and bruising by constricting the blood vessels.
- The use of ultrasound also helps reduce trauma. A small tube with ultrasound waves is passed into the fat after the tumescent fluid has had a chance to sit. The ultrasonic waves help emulsify the salt water and fat cells into a frappe! When the final cannula goes in to evacuate the fat, the fat removed looks like a banana cream frappe. There are several manufacturers of ultrasound lipo machines. VASER calls its technique Liposelection. All the companies would probably cringe at this analogy, but really the ultrasound probe cuts through the fat like a hot knife through butter. Although it is really not heat per se, it is the ultrasonic waves that start the fat cells vibrating, which causes them to burst. The result is fat cell frappe.
- Liposuctioning has really come a long way from the early days, with the large, ungainly cannulas that could make the skin look like a ploughed field. New on the horizon is Smartlipo – the use of a very small laser probe to help dissolve the fat. Hmm. Lasers are really excellent at fine localized and precise pinpoint work, but most people have more generalized fat than that. Other fat busting techniques – such as mesotherapy and lipodissolve, which use medications known to dissolve fat--are injected under the skin, and then your body is supposed to carry away the dead fat cells. I have not tried these, but have been following reports of this for many years. I am still keeping my mind open, but at this time I am not certain they have perfected the EXACT formula that will effectively dissolve fat cells without damaging other cells.
- Liposuctioning is done as a day surgery, out-patient procedure. Recovery can be just a few days, if just one small area is done, or several weeks if a more extensive procedure is performed.
- View our Liposuction Before and After Photos.