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Who is a good candidate for liposuction?
The best candidates for liposuction are people with good health. It works better with individuals with firm and elastic skin.
Liposuction can help people who are in their desired weight range and are not planning to
lose large amounts of
weight. They have also unsuccessfully tried to eliminate the resistant fat deposits through
workout and
diets. These are isolated areas of fat that just don't go away with exercise or diet.
If in addition to fat, the individual has extra loose skin, he or she may need to have additional surgery to cut off the extra skin. In the abdomen, when this is the condition, a
tummy tuck or abdominoplasty is required.
Who is not a good candidate for liposuction?
It is important to have realistic expectations on what the surgery can do and what it cannot do. It will improve the body’s shape and the doctor will make every effort to make it proportionate and extract the right amount of fat, but there are limitations on the amount of fat that can be safely extracted. The doctor also cannot predict how your body will react to the surgery.
The most important physical consideration is the general health of the patient. Illnesses such as high blood pressure,
diabetes, circulation problems, heart or lung problems and other serious health issues may increase the surgery’s risks so the procedure cannot be recommended. The doctor evaluates each case and determines if the surgery is safe.
On the esthetic side, liposuction may not be appropriate for some people, because of
sagging or loose
skin. This often occurs with aging. If the skin is not elastic enough to conform to the new shape after liposuction, the surgery may leave loose skin.
As previously said, liposuction is not a
weight loss
solution. Most doctors suggest to obese patients that they lose weight before the procedure. However, there is a new controversial treatment that uses liposuction on obese people to help them lose weight.
What Are The Risks?
Liposuction is generally safe. As with any surgery, however, the procedure does have a potential for complications. The complications increase if large amounts of fat are removed or many procedures are performed at the same time.
Some of the risks include:
- General anesthesia risks
- Bleeding
- Prolonged swelling
- Infection
- Nerve damage
- Perforation in the bowel during abdominal procedures
- Blood clots, particularly in women taking
birth control pills
- Necrosis: Skin tissue death. This risk is higher among smokers and people with diabetes
- Skin burn during
ultrasound-assisted liposuction from the heat of the ultrasound device.
- Fluid in the lungs during tumescent liposuction
- The aesthetic risks include uneven body shape, bumps on the skin and brown spots (hyperpigmentation).
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