What Can Liposuction Do for You?
Is liposuction worth it? Our Vancouver area-based team know that this is probably one of the questions that’s on your mind if you are thinking about have cosmetic treatments to achieve slimmer and more defined body contours or target stubborn fat. Excess fat can be stored on the abdominal area, thighs, waistline, back, below the chin and many other areas. Even for people who are very fit and close to their ideal body weight, there may be one or more areas that they can’t seem to tone up as much as they want to because of deposits of resistant fat. If you want to reshape your body contours and increase your overall attractiveness, cosmetic surgery makes that possible. By reducing a small amount of fat from virtually any area of the body, you can improve your body shape. Although it’s commonly used for the hips, saddlebags and stomach area, liposuction can also reshape many other areas. In this post, we’ll explore some of the things that liposuction can and can’t do, if you’re thinking about having this procedure.
What Liposuction Can’t Treat
Before delving into the benefits of liposuction, it’s first necessary to explore the truth about what liposuction can’t do. Although there are numerous benefits associated with liposuction, there are certain things that it should not treat. It’s not designed to be a weight loss treatment, a treatment for obesity, a fast track to a fit body or a way to reduce cellulite. If you’re a smoker, have chronic health problems, are overweight, or have sagging skin then you should avoid liposuction. Your weight won’t dramatically change after liposuction, as it only treats small areas of fat. It also isn’t a substitute for exercise.
What Liposuction Can Treat
Liposuction has been a popular body contouring procedure for decades. The main benefits of this procedure are that it boosts your self-confidence, enhances curves, reduces unwanted fat, makes clothing fit better, and defines the contours of the body. Another major advantage of liposuction is how efficient it is. Non-invasive fat reduction procedures often require multiple sessions for optimal results, and it can take months for their results to be noticeable. In contrast, liposuction is usually completed in just one procedure and results are more dramatic compared to non-surgical options.
Is liposuction worth it? Our Vancouver area-based team at the office of Dr. Owen Reid will explain more. Call us at 604-343-9309 or submit a contact form to request a consultation.
How Can You Know If You’re a Good Candidate for Liposuction?
One we get asked a lot by patients is, “How do you know if you’re a candidate for liposuction?” and our Vancouver area team at the practice of Dr. Owen Reid believes that the best way to find out for sure is to meet with us for a consultation. Each individual’s situation is different and candidates will need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine which cosmetic surgery option will be the best choice for them. Although it would be the ideal if body fat was distributed evenly throughout the body or was mainly in the areas we want it to be, most of us have one or more “problem areas” where excess fat lingers that we can’t seem to address on our own.
For example, for some people it may be difficult to lose fat from the belly area while for others the flanks, hips, upper arms, below the chin, or thighs might be areas they wish they could tone up more. Hormones, genetics, aging, and other factors that are mostly outside of our control have the biggest impact on how our body stores fat. Liposuction is a form of cosmetic surgery that involves the use of a device called a cannula to suction fat away from specific areas. For this reason, it can be the ideal solution for targeting stubborn fat on problem areas to restore slimmer, more streamlined contours. If this procedure sounds like it could be what you need, here are some basic factors that would make you an ideal candidate:
- You are within thirty percent of your ideal weight
- You have firm, elastic skin and good muscle tone
- You are healthy and don’t have any life-threatening illnesses or medical conditions that could inhibit your ability to heal
- You have a positive outlook and specific body contouring goals
- You’re looking to remove small fat deposits located on any area of the body that don’t respond to diet or exercise
- You’re not looking for a weight loss tool
- You’re a non-smoker
How do you know if you’re a candidate for liposuction? Our Vancouver area office of Dr. Owen Reid can provide answers to this and other questions you may have about plastic surgery. Call us at 604-343-9309 or submit a contact form to request a consultation.
Will The Results from Liposuction Be Permanent?
Liposuction is a treatment that can reduce stubborn areas of fat that don't respond to exercise and diet such as the stomach, thighs, upper arms, and below the chin to sculpt a more proportional body shape. Although it is not a weight loss procedure, it can take inches off from certain areas for a more balanced body shape and help clothes fit better to make you feel more confident. One of the most frequently asked questions about this form of cosmetic surgery is, "Can the fat return after liposuction?". Our Vancouver area office often sees patients who are concerned about the longevity of the procedure.
The truth is that while the results of liposuction are indeed permanent, it's still possible to gain weight in the future if you have unhealthy habits and remaining fat cells on the body become enlarged as they store excess calories. During liposuction, some of the fat cells are literally suctioned out and surgically removed from certain isolated areas. The fat cells that are removed can't grow back.
However, if the patient allows fat to return, they can indeed gain weight after having this procedure in other areas. If they gain a significant amount of weight, their results from liposuction will look much less impressive. The overall enhanced silhouette that they attained through liposuction will still be visible regardless of how much weight they gain in most cases as less fat will be gained in the treated areas compared to the untreated ones, so the patient will still have a more proportional, balanced body shape than they would if they didn't get liposuction in the first place.
Liposuction does remove fat cells but the remaining fat cells on the treatment area will still be able to store fat and grow in size. Commitment to taking good care of yourself and making healthy choices can help you maintain the slimmer appearance. You should maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and drink plenty of water to preserve the outcome from liposuction.
For more details about liposuction, contact our Vancouver area office of Dr. Owen Reid so that we can explain more about what this treatment involves. Call us today at 604-343-9309 or submit a contact form to request a consultation and learn more about cosmetic procedures.
Which Areas Are Improved During an Upper Body Lift?
Loose, sagging skin often occurs due to aging, pregnancy, liposuction, or massive weight loss. It sometimes appears on the lateral chest, upper arms, middle part of the back, and the breasts after you've shed lots of pounds (usually 100 lbs or more). Unfortunately, skin that has lost its elasticity won't firm up on its own; the only real way to eliminate it is with an upper body lift. Our Vancouver area team at the office of Dr. Owen Reid can use an upper body lift to give you smoother skin, helping you feel more confident and fit better in clothes.
When you lose a large amount of weight quickly it's common to have a lot of loose skin because the skin doesn't have enough time to gradually retract and spring back into place. Adding to that, gaining weight often causes the skin to stretch permanently so that even after weight loss, it can't snap back. Many patients find this skin unflattering or don't like how it gets in the way of their everyday activities.
Others might feel like their physical appearance doesn't match the way the feel inwardly or that they don't look like someone who works out even after all the efforts and commitments they've made. As well as making you feel self-conscious, this unwanted skin may often lead to rashes, chafing, and infections.
A complete upper body lift usually involves combining an upper body lift for back rolls with an arm lift or breast lift, depending on what your goals are. The following are some of the most common areas targeted:
- Back
- Upper Arms
- Breasts
- Lateral Chest
Liposuction is used to suction away excess fat from the back and arms that contributes to the problem while loose skin is removed, and the area is tightened up with sutures. When you have a breast lift as part of the procedure, some skin will be removed, and the tissues will be tightened and reshaped to raise the breasts.
If sagging rolls of extra skin have been dragging you down after weight loss and you have been thinking about having an upper body lift in the Vancouver area, be sure to discuss your goals with Dr. Owen Reid. Contact our practice by calling 604-343-9309 to request a consultation or fill out a contact form to get started.
Plastic Surgery for Men - our top 8 cosmetic procedures
- Male breast reduction surgery is covered in detail on a dedicated page and this is perhaps the most common reason for men to consult with Dr. Reid.
- Liposuction can be a powerful tool for re-shaping the torso and reducing stubborn fat deposits. Treatment of the abdominal and 'love-handle' areas are most common. Minimal scarring and downtime help to make liposuction a popular procedure.
- Men who choose to have a tummy tuck have often lost a significant amount of weight and this procedure is ideal for those who have loose skin in the abdominal area.
- Lose the double-chin. Check out our page on Belkyra, a minimally invasive injectable treatment to remove submental fat to create a more athletic looking neck line.
- For more challenging necks, a surgical neck lift with submental liposuction is powerful procedure that can restore, or create, a youthful looking neck.
- A chin augmentation strengthens the look of a 'weak' jaw and can dramatically change a guy's profile and their overall look. It's often a great complement to the neck treatments listed above. Minor augmentations can be achieved in the office with an injectable filler, while more dramatic results require placement of an implant.
- Women get Botox . . . . men get 'Brotox'. The product is the same, but the aesthetic goals are different. Botox should be considered by those men who have persistent creases and wrinkles affecting either the brow or forehead.
- Aging men with loose upper eyelid skin should consider a blepharoplasty. This relatively minor surgical procedure removes redundant skin and aims to restore a crisp upper eyelid fold while maintaining a masculine look.