NOT Burning Fat - Liposuction

How many times have you heard this: “I can’t seem to lose weight. I am going to get liposuction and then I’ll look great!” People actually think liposuction is a procedure to lose weight. Really, it’s nothing of the sort.

Liposuction is cosmetic surgery – with all the risk that any surgery entails – to sculpt the body. Neither is it indicated for losing weight nor can it be used on very fat people.

It has become the third most popular procedure after nose reconstruction and breast implants with over 300,000 operations done annually. (American Society of Plastic Surgeons 2006)

Liposuction may be performed on the abdomen, hips, thighs, calves, arms, buttocks, back, neck, or face. Sometimes a surgeon will do more than one area at a time.

The procedure is deceptively simple: Small, pencil-sized incisions are made at the edges of the area to be liposuctioned and a cannula – a hollow, stainless steel tube – is used to literally suck out fat cells. There are about 5 distinct types or procedures and dozens of different methods of using them.

Today, all use an injected solution that includes a local anesthetic – Lidocaine, plus Epinephrine to reduce bleeding and a saline solution to help make the vacuuming process faster and less painful. The amount of injected solution depends on the area, amount of fat and doctor preference.

UAL or Ultrasound Assisted Liposuction is now popular for its low procedure time. Ultrasound waves – emanating from the head of the cannula - breakdown the fat cells which are then sucked out through the tube.

The operation can be quick for small areas and take up to 4 hours for larger areas or multiple procedures. Longer procedures for large area are done while you’re asleep, but most just use a local to numb the area.

Recuperation can be long and painful for large areas. Some patients need two weeks of pain medication and all must return to the doctors to have drains and sutures removed after 5 to 10 days. The final result can take 6 months to see.

Liposuction costs between $2,000 and $7,500 dollars per area although some offshore clinics charge considerable less. This does not include costs for the special compression girdles, medications, time off work and follow on treatments. Insurance will not cover any costs unless the procedure is used to treat some type of health threatening illness like a tumor.

When you are overweight, the fat is spread all over your body – not just your waistline. This means that by liposuctioning one area – say your stomach – you would be left with fat arms, fat legs and a fat face. For this reason, it’s not recommended for folks who have 30 to 40 pounds of fat – even though there are doctors that will do the procedure.

Indeed, candidates for liposuction are usually physically fit, follow a regular exercise regimen, and are only 20 pounds overweight.

On average, in the United States 19 out of every 100,000 people die undergoing the liposuction procedure.

Not only is this cosmetic surgery the most dangerous, it also can lead to other problems including:

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