The Art of Liposuction & Body Contouring

The best liposuction outcomes are achieved when you are at or close to your ideal body weight. When areas of localized adiposity, or contained accumulations of fat, remain after a regimen of diet and exercise, liposuction is most appropriate. The best liposuction candidates will have:

• Localized excess fat of the anterior abdomen and flanks
• Good skin elasticity in the region of fat excess
• Worked at diet, cardio and strength training
• A body weight within 10% of ideal, or BMI below 25

Liposuction can remove small, moderate and large amounts of fat depending upon the individual's desires and physical attributes. Liposuction does not, however, remove excess skin, and can have a variable effect on cellulite. The individual's inherent skin elasticity plays a significant role in the degree of change that can be achieved with liposuction.

Liposuction has gone through a number of changes over the past decades, the most significant of which was the introduction of a solution to improve both safety and comfort of the procedure. Tumescent liposuction, or superwet liposuction, describe these suction-assisted lipectomy techniques. There has also been a boom in the adjunct modalities with liposuction that can be puzzling to many when considering liposuction, which include:

• Tumescent Liposuction - liposuction using a large volume of solution for maximizing safety, comfort and cosmetic results
• Superwet Liposuction - a moderate volume of solution is used to achieve the best liposuction results
• Suction Assisted Lipectomy (SAL) - classical liposuction, using tiny access sites with thin cannulas (tubes) to remove excess fat
• Power Assisted Lipectomy (PAL) - adds an oscillating tip to help break up dense, fibrous attachments within the fat
• Ultrasound Assisted Lipectomy (UAL) - adds an ultrasound emitting tip to the procedure, assisting in the emulsification of fat
• SmartLipo™ - known as laser lipolysis, purported to "tighten skin" in addition to removing fat with liposuction
• Lipoabdominoplasty - abdominal liposuction in conjunction with a tummy tuck, performed when significant skin excess or inelasticity is present in addition to fat excess

With so many liposuction options, how do you make the decision? A personal consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon, who is experienced in liposuction techniques, well versed in the objective pros and cons of each procedure, and who will come to understand the nuances of your unique desires and physical requirements, will be able to advise you on the best liposuction options.

Liposuction vs. nonsurgical treatments: Is there any role for external noninvasive fat reduction? While Zeltiq (Coolsculpting), Zerona (external laser), Liposonix (high intensity focused ultrasound), Exilis (dermal and fat heating), and others may be heavily marketed and purported to reduce fat and tighten skin, the data is inconclusive and results are inconsistent. When results are indeed achieved with nonsurgical fat reduction modalities, often after multiple treatments, they may variably reduce fat volume by ounces, whereas liposuction can reliably remove precisely as much as is required, and thereby achieve much more spectacular results with efficiency, consistency, and safety.