For many people, liposuction offers the opportunity to sculpt their bodies and achieve a new level of self-confidence. However, choosing to undergo this treatment is a big commitment that requires careful consideration. Mr. Salerno at Real Cosmetic Plastic Surgery of Moonee Ponds, VIC is determined to help patients get the results they want.
How Much Weight Can You Lose With Liposuction?
Over the last couple of decades, Liposuction has become very prevalent around the world. Along with it has come the misconception that the treatment is a quick fix to weight loss problems. In truth, the amount of weight you can lose with lipo alone only amounts to about ten pounds or 4.5 kilograms total. Before you get discouraged, though, let’s take a look at how the treatment works and what it actually does for you.
Treatment Areas
The Liposuction procedure is aimed at removing latent fat from areas that are difficult to address through normal means of weight loss. For instance, the underside of the upper arms or the lower belly. These areas are very difficult to target with exercise, and even a healthy diet can leave small deposits of fat that never quite go away.
The challenge with using lipo for weight loss is that these areas only contain a small amount of the total fat you are trying to use, so even if you have them all treated, you are unlikely to see a drastic change in your total weight. Instead, you are better off using lipo as an additional part of your current weight loss strategy, or after you have reached your goal weight to achieve final sculpting results.
Does Lipo Remove Fat?
Yes, the Liposuction procedure itself uses small surgical incisions and tubes to suck out fat cells in your problem areas. Due to the nature of the procedure, you are sure to lose some weight, although the amount is very small. In fact, most plastic surgeons only remove 5-8 pounds of fat in a single treatment.
Why Can’t They Take More?
Lipo is actually a procedure meant to sculpt areas of your body that are difficult to exercise and manage through regular healthy eating. The process itself allows the doctor to treat those small areas, but it does not come without risk. The more fat that is removed at one time, the more likely you are to see complications after the procedure.
In addition, removing the fat alone does not guarantee that your skin will tighten up or return to its previous shape. The more fat that is removed from one spot, the more likely you are to need additional treatments to firm the skin and restore its elasticity.
Multiple Treatments
If your doctor deems it safe to remove more than the standard amount of fat from a single area, he may decide to space your treatments out over several months and rotate through different parts of the body to give you time to recover in between. For instance, he may treat the belly first and then move on to the thighs or underarm areas before revisiting the belly to determine if any further treatment is warranted.
Ultimately, it will be up to your doctor to determine if it is safe to remove any additional fat from an area that has already been treated, and it may take up to six weeks for your body to fully recover and reveal whether this is possible.
Is Lipo Right For Me?
Now that you know what lipo is intended to treat, it’s important to ask yourself whether or not this is the correct procedure for you. Your doctor can sit down and go over the options with you to determine if lipo is a step in the right direction, or if there are other treatments that are more suitable for your goals. This is generally done in a consultation meeting prior to scheduling any treatments.
The Consultation
During a consultation, your doctor will gather your current medical records and go over any areas of concern that may disqualify you from certain treatments. In addition, he will discuss your body goals and go over different types of treatment that might be available to you. Oftentimes, lipo alone is not enough, and most people use a combination of treatments to reach their desired sculpting.
In many cases, plastic surgeons also recommend that a patient take up a new diet and exercise program to begin losing weight prior to having lipo done. This will allow them to identify areas that are not shedding fat as quickly as others, and treat those areas while allowing you to continue losing weight at a steady pace overall. This more closely aligns with what you will want for long-term success.
What To Expect After Treatment
As mentioned above, the full results of your treatment will not be immediately visible. In the short term, your doctor will give you compression garments to wear on the treated areas to minimize swelling and maintain proper drainage of the area while your body recovers. Once those garments are removed, you are still likely to see some mild swelling and bloating in the area for several weeks.
The 4-6 Week Window
Around 4-6 weeks post-treatment you will really begin to see the results of your lipo procedure. Your doctor may also schedule follow-up appointments to go over the results and check over any areas that are still swollen or bloated. He will also advise you on diet and exercise once you are able to resume normal activities.
It is extremely important not to lift heavy weights or resume normal exercise until you have been given clearance to do so by your doctor. In most cases, you will be limited to walking and mild cardiovascular type exercises until the incision sites have healed and the swelling has gone down. This is still a good practice to ensure that you continue to support your previous weight loss habits and keep your body healthy.
Maintaining Your Results
The most important thing to know after having liposuction performed is that your diet and exercise will ultimately determine whether you achieve the weight loss you are looking for. While lipo alone is not designed to be a one-stop weight loss solution, it can help jumpstart the process by helping you feel more confident in your body and taking off the first few pounds.
In most cases, your doctor will have already verified that you are on a suitable diet and on track to lose weight before the procedure is ever performed. You will need to stick to this diet and weight loss plan if you want to continue improving upon the results you’ve had from the treatment. In addition, this is the best way to guarantee that you do not gain new weight in place of the old.
Future Weight Gain
One common question doctors get about lipo is what happens if you gain weight at any point in the future. Because the fat cells in the treated areas have been permanently removed, you are less likely to see future weight gain in those areas. However, you may see deposits of fat in areas that have not been treated, which can alter the final results of your treatment.
For this reason, it is important that you are able to maintain your weight at a stable level after seeking treatment. Rapid fluctuations in your weight may undo some of the results or cause unexpected changes in fat distribution to new areas of your body, some of which may not be easily treatable in the future. If your doctor is unsure that your weight has stabilized after major weight loss or dieting, he may recommend waiting on lipo until your body has adjusted to its new weight.
Making the Call
If you are already working toward weight loss with a steady diet and exercise plan, lipo may be the next logical step. If so, a licensed cosmetic surgeon can help you determine when is the right time to begin treatments or help you get on a path toward future treatments that will achieve your goals.
When the time has come to move forward with your body sculpting dreams, call on Real Cosmetic Plastic Surgery in Moonee Ponds, VIC to schedule your consultation. Mr. Salerno can answer any questions you have about the liposuction procedure and what you can expect from the treatment process. Afterward, you can begin working toward your final goals and a body you love.
