Liposuction is a surgical procedure to remove fat that you have not been able to shed using other methods. A doctor performs liposuction on parts of your body that have stored excess fat and become flabby, including the belly, thighs, buttocks, hips, face, or even enlarged breasts on men.
During your initial consult, Dr. Yaghoubian will let you know if you are a good candidate for the procedure by taking a complete medical history and completing a thorough exam. Be sure to tell your doctor about prior health issues and provide a list of all of your medications, including over-the-counter medications and supplements, some of which can act as blood thinners.
People with diabetes or other conditions that may impair healing often are not considered good candidates for liposuction. Dr. Yaghoubian can explain the pros and cons of this particular surgery and discuss what types of results will be possible for you.
You will be at a surgical center under general anesthesia for the procedure. A doctor injects a sterile solution into the treatment area to help make the fat easier to suction. Then, she makes a small incision and inserts a long, thin tube called a cannula. Using this, she vacuums the fat out of your body.
You will probably want to take several days of sick leave to recover after your liposuction procedure. Fluid retention, bruising, and soreness are normal parts of the recovery process. Your doctor will also give you a compression garment to wear for a couple of months to help reduce the swelling. Although you will likely be able to resume everyday activities in a couple of weeks, you should avoid heavy exercise for as long as Dr. Yaghoubian recommends.
The fat cells that are removed during liposuction are gone forever. However, if you put on weight, your remaining fat cells can get larger, resulting in weight gain. Making and continuing healthy lifestyle changes after liposuction is important, including eating a good diet and exercising.
Liposuction is an invasive surgery that poses potential risks and side effects. Skin irregularities such as bumpy, wavy, and wrinkled skin are possible side effects of uneven fat removal, improper healing, or insufficient skin elasticity. Other possible side effects include:
More severe side effects are possible, such as internal organ punctures from the cannula tube, fat trapped within blood vessels, adverse reactions to pain medications, and kidney or heart problems. However, these side effects are rare when a highly qualified surgeon like Dr. Yaghoubian performs the liposuction procedure.
Liposuction does not remove stretch marks resulting from previous weight gain, pregnancy, or aging effects. Additionally, the procedure does not improve skin irregularities, such as dimples or cellulite on the back of the thighs. It is important to remember that the procedure is meant to remove a limited amount of fat, providing more subtle results instead of dramatic changes in appearance.
In some individuals, abdomen fat may lie beneath the muscles and around the internal organs. Liposuction aims to remove fat between the skin and muscles and therefore cannot remove abdomen fat located beneath the muscles. Furthermore, liposuction does not remove loose or excess skin resulting from weight loss, aging, or pregnancy.
Although liposuction often addresses cosmetic concerns, certain medical conditions could also benefit from the procedure. Liposuction can reduce the amount of breast tissue in men suffering from gynecomastia, a condition resulting in excess male breast tissue, skin, and fat. An individual who was obese but has lost at least 40 percent of their body weight could undergo liposuction to remove stubborn fat that exercise and diet have not eliminated.
Liposuction surgery could also be used to remove fatty and benign tumors located underneath the skin. These tumors, known as lipomas, are often found on areas such as the back, arms, neck, shoulders, and torso. Liposuction can also reduce swelling for those with lymphedema, a long-term medical condition resulting in excess fluid buildup in arm or leg tissues. Additionally, liposuction could reduce fat accumulations in specific body areas that are more pronounced due to fat loss in other areas resulting from lipodystrophy syndrome.
If you are looking for other body enhancement results beyond fat removal, liposuction can be performed simultaneously with other surgical procedures. Options for additional surgical operations include:
Combining an additional surgery with liposuction could create more proportional body contours and further improve your appearance.
Following a liposuction procedure, the treated areas may remain swollen for a few weeks. The results should be noticeable once the swelling has subsided. Final liposuction results may be apparent several months after the procedure, with better results if the patient maintains a stable body weight. However, you may need multiple liposuction treatments to achieve your optimal results and body contours. Dr. Yaghoubian can work with you throughout the surgical and post-operative processes to ensure that your goals are met.
For the best possible liposuction results in Tarzana, there are several steps that patients must take before surgery to prevent complications and improve outcomes. A vital step is refraining from nicotine use before liposuction surgery, as it decreases blood flow and adversely impacts healing afterward. As a general guideline, it is necessary to stop smoking nicotine at least three to six weeks before a surgical procedure, although quitting several months beforehand is best.
Patients should not take medication before surgery, including birth control, aspirin, and anti-inflammatory medications, as they can increase bleeding. Lastly, if liposuction treatment areas have hair-bearing skin, refrain from shaving before the procedure since it could result in infections and ingrown hairs.
Liposuction is not an alternative option for weight loss because it is a procedure for removing a small to moderate amount of excess body fat specifically. Instead, liposuction patients must achieve or get close to their ideal body weight several months before the procedure. In addition, since liposuction focuses on small, specific body areas, it does not remove a substantial amount of body fat to treat obesity.
Instead, liposuction eliminates small areas of fat that do not respond to lifestyle changes, including a healthy diet and regular exercise. If a patient wants to treat obesity, other surgical procedures are more effective than liposuction.
The critical difference between a liposuction procedure and tummy tuck surgery is the removal of excess loose or sagging skin. Specifically, liposuction focuses solely on removing excess body fat, but a tummy tuck procedure eliminates abdominal fat while tightening the skin for smoother body contours. Liposuction in Tarzana could treat most body areas that struggle with stubborn, excess fat, but a tummy tuck procedure explicitly removes abdominal fat.
As a result, liposuction patients need a good amount of skin laxity to ensure the skin adheres to newly enhanced contours after the procedure. In addition to skin tightening differences, tummy tuck surgery could improve abdominal muscles that become weak or separated during pregnancy. If a patient needs abdominal muscle repairs in addition to fat removal, liposuction is not a suitable procedure.
Liposuction does pose a risk of scarring but the incisions necessary for fat removal are minor, so significant scarring afterward is not likely. In most cases, patients have minimal scarring at incision sites that fade away in the years after liposuction.
Individuals with darker skin complexions are at a higher risk of developing hyperpigmentation after liposuction. Due to this, the scars might appear more prominent on the skin after surgery and take longer to fade in the following years.
Before a liposuction procedure, patients could take several steps to better prepare themselves and their environments for the surgery and recovery process. Most importantly, patients need to be near their ideal weight before the procedure since it is a targeted approach for smaller body areas. In addition, building muscle in the treatment areas provides better results afterward by improving definition and tone.
Since the recovery process is lengthy, prepping the home environment could ease the recovery process significantly. For instance, having easily prepared or premade food available, child and pet care arrangements, and putting necessary items in an easy-to-reach place can make the recovery a smoother process.