One question I hear frequently is whether liposuction will be sufficient for body contouring. I believe this question comes up often because patients would like to avoid large incisions or “invasive” surgery. Depending on the size and shape of your body, the answer to whether liposuction will be enough may be yes, no, or both.
Liposuction is a fantastic tool for body contouring, given the right circumstances. The best use of liposuction is someone with good skin tone (not too many stretch marks, little to no extra, hanging skin) and specific areas to be targeted (like saddlebags, love-handles, or anti-thigh gap). In other words, liposuction is not an effective weight loss tool. Deflating very large areas will make you look… deflated, with loose, hanging skin.
When extra skin or extra pounds are involved, the treatment of choice is surgery. This may take different forms, and depending on how much or little skin and fatty tissue is involved, the incisions may be quite small or quite large. When it comes down to it, body contouring operations trade scars for better appearance. The good news is that scars from body contouring operations generally fade very well, and most patient’s gladly accept them for the changes that occur with surgery.
Body contouring operations include:
- Liposuction
- Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck)
- Panniculectomy
- Mastopexy (breast lift)
- Breast augmentation
- Brachioplasty (arm lift)
- Thighplasty (thigh lift)
- Submental lipectomy (turkey waddle removal)
- Body lift
- Buttock lift
- Hand rejuvenation
Don’t hesitate to call and schedule a consult. I love answering questions about surgery (and fishing).
Dr. McDaniel
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon, American Board of Plastic Surgery