The Truth about Liposuction

Liposuction is one of the methods to remove excess body fat, as it is widely known. It is a cosmetic surgery that removes fat from different locations around the body such as the abdomen, buttocks, thighs etc., where the fat loss didn’t occur even after structured exercise and life style regimen.

Looking back, Liposuction isn’t really a find of the present day. It was introduced to the world by French surgeon Gerard Illouz in 1982 and even after more than 30 years, it still remains the most common cosmetic procedure performed.

Who is an ideal candidate for Liposuction?

Liposuction is most ideal for individuals having a lot of fat in a particular isolated area, like those dreaded love handles, excess fat at lower abdomen after child bearing in women, upper arm fat etc., which don’t seem to go away even after a lot of exercise.
Person with Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 30 with above issues may consider liposuction. Any one with BMI more than 30 are not ideal candidates.
Liposuction should not be used for the purpose of weight loss.

How?

Though there are different methods available, fundamentally all methods rely on a metal tube that has been placed in the area to suction the fat with the aid of vacuum.
Newer methods also include technology like lasers to melt away the fat and ultrasound, to break up the fat cells, to.make it easier to be removed.

The safety

The procedure is safe, provided it is performed by

1. A well-trained surgeon of sound evaluation, technique and judgement

2. Performed for right reasons on an appropriately selected person.

Like any other surgery, the risks of the procedure include bleeding, belated healing, infection and nerve damage which are the same risks that are involved with most general surgical procedures. Surgeons usually undergo long periods of training to assimilate the required amount of knowledge to perform Liposuction.

Although very rare, risks of Liposuction also include body fat getting into the blood stream called ‘fat embolism’, the same kind of danger faced when the thigh bone of a person is broken. If this were to happen, the body fat would block blood vessels in other organs (including the heart, lungs etc.), causing them to fail.

This particular complication has been speculated to be the reason for the death of a well know south Indian actress, earlier this month, having undergone such surgery in the USA.

To know more about Liposuction, please do get in touch with us.