Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Is Liposuction For Me





Tuesday 8th December 2009

Today we welcome our guest blogger Julia Eves who helps us take a closer look at the Liposuction procedure.


It sounds like some sort of a magic cure: Just make a small incision and suck out unwanted fat through a tube - a spiffy piece of body contouring that leaves you svelte and shapely. The good news is that this is pretty much what liposuction does, and its laser form, SmartLipo, is even called the 'lunch-time lipo'. Sneak out for a quick snack and some liposuction! But there may be serious, sometimes fatal, complications with liposuction; so you need to seriously consider whether it is worth it.

What areas does it work in?

Liposuction isn't an alternative to the gym: it's not a good idea if you're looking for extreme weight loss but does work well if you have some specific problem areas. A kind of body contouring, it can be performed under the chin, neck, cheeks, upper arms, breasts, abdomen, buttocks, hips, thighs, calves, and ankle areas. Liposuction works best for people who don't lose or gain weight too quickly or have any eating disorders. Men usually opt for liposuction to remove double chins and abdominal fat; women for thighs, hips, lower abdomen and around the neck region. If you're opting for liposuction or SmartLipo you should ideally be healthy and have roughly normal body weight.

How is it done?

Liposuction is getting easier. The big cut that surgeons used to make has now been replaced by a tiny incision in a natural skin crease through which a hollow tube is inserted to suck out fat. The newer laser-based SmartLipo is even simpler. It involves inserting a tiny tube into the skin which then moves back and forth distributing the laser's energy to surrounding fat cells, which rupture and drain away. SmartLipo is a simple enough procedure to be performed under local anesthesia and is sometimes used along with regular liposuction to supplement it.

Is there a flip side?
Of course, now that you've been hearing about what a safe procedure it is, you'll probably be tempted to head out and ask for a helping of body contouring right away, please. But although liposuction is one of the safest cosmetic surgical procedures available today and may be advertised as something you can undergo when you have an hour free, you should make sure you speak to a realistic surgeon who doesn't overdo the amounts of liposuction performed on you in a single day. The amount that is considered "safe" varies, so it is important to check how much your surgeon prioritizes safety over results.

There are side-effects that may put you off liposuction and it's best to know these beforehand rather than discover them the hard way later. They include infections, skin necrosis (can be fatal) above the regions where liposuction was done; a change in the sensations in the operated region; swelling, and fluid imbalance.

Also if all that your surgeon has been discussing is the miracle body contouring that you will go home with post-surgery, you need to know that there are certain vulnerabilities you might have that increase risk during or after liposuction. For instance, what's your history with cardiac problems; pulmonary problems; hypertension; diabetes; allergies? After a surgery, are you okay with the chance that there might be some shock (if enough fluid wasn't pumped back into you after fat was sucked out); fluid overload, scarring, drug reactions or possibility of infection.

Liposuction: when not to

It's not a good idea to consider liposuction for general obesity or to treat skin that is uneven or dimpled. Your surgeon should warn you that certain parts of your body shouldn't undergo liposuction such as the fat on the sides of breasts - a common site for cancer. There are alternatives to liposuction and SmartLipo that you can consider: for instance, a tummy tuck procedure; reduction mammoplasty or even a combination of plastic surgery procedures.

Julia Eves works in health industry. Staying Young is the website were Julia publishes her articles on health, diet and cosmetic procedures



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