Vaser/SmartLipo
Posted February 16, 2010 4:09 PM
I feel the same way with regard to vaser liposelection as I do with Smart Liposuction
using the laser. They are interesting tools. Personally I do not feel that they offer any specific advantage, and to me, I lose the tactile feeling of doing my contouring and sculpting with those machines. As I have always said, it is much more about the hands, skills, eyes and good judgment of the person doing it, and much less about the machine. You will probably find a lot of different opinions regarding this matter. One thing I would say is that many of the experts in liposuction around the country have not incorporated these newer technologies, and that to me really does say a lot.
Add Comment | Permalink
The Importance of a Proper Evaluation/Consultation
Posted January 29, 2010 4:44 PM in Liposuction
With liposculpture surgery, as with any procedure, a great result begins with a complete honest evaluation as to who is a good candidate. Simply stated, liposuction is all about targeting areas of genetic disproportion and balancing a body. It has virtually nothing to do with being overweight, underweight or normal weight. It is about focusing on stubborn areas that can’t be taken care of with diet or exercise. This is one reason why it is so important to be fully evaluated from your neck to your ankles by someone with a good eye and ability to determine where you are out of balance if at all. It is a mistake to perform liposuction on someone who is simply overweight or out of shape but not disproportionate. Once again, unfortunately this does not uncommonly occur and the result will be a person thrown out of proportion. This is why we hear of cases of people who had lipo and the fat “went” to other area. The surgeon created disproportion. In addition, make sure that the person who is evaluating you for surgery is actually the surgeon and not somebody else. I have heard of patients who met their surgeon for liposuction in the operating room for the first time. Be wary of places that seem like factories and do not truly care about comprehensive individualized care.
Add Comment | Permalink
Cellulite and Liposuction
Posted November 13, 2009 3:45 PM in Liposuction
Ah, the old question of cellulite with liposuction, whether it improves or not. This is my feeling about it and my representation of cellulite with liposuction. Although there is definitely no guarantee that cellulite itself can improve with liposuction, typically if the liposuction is performed in a certain way, cellulite usually improves, although there is no guarantee. And what I mean by this is well-done superficial liposuction, which tends to loosen some of the fibrous bands occurring in the superficial fat layer which contributes to cellulite in women. Personally, I have never in 14 years seen cellulite get worse in my hands with liposuction. So, if it is done properly it is very likely the cellulite will not get worse. I would not necessarily expect it to get better, although usually it does if it is done properly. The way I represent it to patients is do not do liposuction for cellulite alone, but do it because you are trying to balance your body out and create a more proportioned shape. And if the cellulite improves, and usually it does, it is a bonus. So once again, it would be very unlikely for it to get worse if it is done properly. It may get better, but it may not. But, once again, you are not doing liposuction for the cellulite alone but target areas of genetic disproportion. With regard to swelling and pain, this still is a surgery and typically there is a little bit of soreness that can go on for several days or several weeks. In terms of the patients being healed up well enough to be able to get back into a bathing suit or go on a trip, typically it is three weeks. My point of when to do the surgery before a vacation would be three weeks prior. At that point, most of the swelling is down, all the bruising has gone away and typically any soreness has greatly subsided.
Add Comment | Permalink
Benefits of Local Anesthesia
Posted November 13, 2009 3:44 PM
Regarding general anesthesia verses local anesthesia, basically you will have two camps in terms of opinions. I personally strongly feel that there are many advantages to local anesthesia. I have done many cases under general anesthesia over the years and find it to be a great disadvantage in terms of many areas. Personally, I don’t find that general anesthesia is much quicker because by the time you put the patient asleep and you do all the moving around that you are able to with general anesthesia, it tends to take at least as much time. I also strongly feel that it has nothing to do with how aggressive you are choosing to be. In many ways under local anesthesia, because the tumescent fluid is so good at reducing the bleeding, it allows me to be more aggressive in areas with less bleeding. There is a great benefit with regard to the bruising and swelling of local anesthesia because it prepares the area very well prior to doing the liposuction by hydro-dissecting, or breaking apart with fluid, fatty parts of the tissue as well as causing basal constriction. So you usually get much more of a pure fat removal. I do think it is much better to leave the incision sites open in almost all areas to drain that fluid and it tends to promote faster healing in all areas and I find that the sites heal up beautifully and are almost imperceptible if they are placed properly without suturing them up. So to summarize, I find that there are three advantages to local anesthesia over general anesthesia with regard to liposuction specifically. One is safety and if you do your research, you will find that general anesthesia liposuction has had a lot more complications approximately 1 in 5,000 mortality rate verses virtually no deaths under local anesthesia in more than 20 years. Number two, the recovery is faster. But the biggest advantage as far as I am concerned has to do with results and that is because liposuction is a very different type of surgery. It is a contouring and sculpting procedure and I personally and very particular in terms of exacting positioning the patients are in during the procedure. One thing I am careful to never do is poke or jab the skin and personally under general anesthesia because of improper positioning surgeons many times are poking the skin. This is one of the main causes of irregularities and indentations.
Add Comment | Permalink