Liposuction: Info, Prices, Photos, Reviews, Q&A

Unfortunately weight gain after liposuction works exactly as it does before liposuction. Fat cells removed from the body during liposuction are gone forever.

However, liposuction is not a weight loss procedure, and it cannot magically prevent weight gain. (John K. Wakelin III, MD, FACS, Columbus Plastic Surgeon)

In the early postoperative period, weight gain is due to swelling, which will resolve. The best way to judge the outcome after liposuction is by the contours and your clothing size, not by measuring your weight.

Weight is dependent on water weight, and muscle weight as well as fat. If you are working out and adding muscle you may be adding weight, but still having a good outcome from the liposuction.
Results after liposuction can be durable if you maintain a disciplined lifestyle and dietary habits.

However if you eat enough for your body to store energy as fat, it will go wherever you are genetically preprogrammed to store it – usually the very areas you had treated with liposuction.

It’s like cleaning out a messy storage closet with a lot of junk in it in your home – if you are disciplined and don’t throw a bunch of junk back into your newly clean closet, it’ll stay orderly and neat.

If not, it will soon be full of junk again and you will need to clean it out again someday! (Jeffrey D. Wagner, MD, Indianapolis Plastic Surgeon)

Liposuction reduces excess fat in ‘problem areas’ by physically removing the fat cells in these areas. Immediately after surgery, patients can expect some swelling which can take several months to resolve completely. Many patients are mistaken in thinking that fat removal with liposuction will translate into a significant weight loss on the scale, often any weight loss is just a couple of pounds.
If you are over a year out from your liposuction procedure and consistently gaining weight, I would recommend assessing your caloric intake versus the amount of exercise you do each day. Liposuction does not cause weight gain. (Stephen T. Greenberg, MD, Woodbury Plastic Surgeon)

Weight Gain Can Adversely Affect Previous Liposuction

The vast majority of patients who undergo liposuction are extremely happy with the results of their procedure. In many cases, the procedure results in lifestyle changes that ultimately result in further weight loss and improved quality of life.

Patients tend to adopt healthy diets and exercise more frequently following liposuction. They realize that their liposuction procedure has been a significant investment not only from an economic standpoint, but a personal standpoint as well.

For this reason, they tend to watch their diet and exercise more frequently. In the immediate post-operative period, weight gain following liposuction may be related to fluid retention. When this situation arises, the patient’s weight tends to decrease as swelling resolves with the passage of time.
Unfortunately, we occasionally see patients whose liposuction isn’t accompanied by lifestyle changes. Under these circumstances, lack of exercise and over eating can cause weight gain. Patients in this category usually have a discrepancy between caloric intakes and caloric expenditures.

If you’ve gained weight following liposuction, consultation with your plastic surgeon might be appropriate. Your surgeon should be able to advise you on the appropriate course of action. (Richard J. Bruneteau, MD, Omaha Plastic Surgeon)

I have been doing liposuction for 13 years of private practice and three years of residency training and therefore, have seen this problem not infrequently. The most common reasons for weight gain are that patients eating habits in some way are contributing.

Many of us think we are eating well, but when forced to keep a food diary, discover that we are not usually as good as we thought we were. Another area that is gaining significant interest in weight gain is that of “Genetically Modified Food (GMO)”, or most commonly known as Gluten.
My patients have invested in there liposuction procedure and therefore I will send them to a “Nutritionalist” who can help both with the “food diary (What you are really eating vs. what you think you are eating) as well as with the gluten/GMO issues.

One book my patients have also found helpful with gluten/GMO food issues is called “Wheat Belly” by William Davis, MD. (John Millard, MD, Denver Plastic Surgeon)

Liposuction is unrelated to weight gain

While liposuction might result in an immediate loss of a few pounds, most patients gain back any weight lost during liposuction almost immediately. Aside from that immediate loss, your liposuction is unrelated to your current weight gain.

I would analyze your eating and exercise habits to figure out why you are putting on weight. Weight gain is also related to the slowing of the metabolism that occurs with age. I would see a doctor that specializes in this area to discuss why this may be happening. (David P. Rapaport, MD, FACS, Manhattan Plastic Surgeon)
Liposuction may remove a large amount of fat, but it does not prevent subsequent weight gain. Fat occupies a large volume but it actually doesn’t weigh as much as you would think. Removing a large volume through liposuction may make an area of your body look great, but the weight of the fat removed (minus the fluid used in liposuction) is actually not very much.

Therefore, despite the great contouring from liposuction, the amount of weight removed is low. By looking better, some patients feel less weight restricted and unintentional gain weight after liposuction, resulting in weight gain. (John Zavell, MD, FACS, Toledo Plastic Surgeon)

Weightgain After Liposuction

About gaining weight after liposuction. The most likely is that you are eating more calories than you are aware.
We all do this. It’s easy to underestimate the number of calories we take in. Another possible, but less likely cause, is that you have something going on with your metabolism. Thyroid is a gland is the body that regulates metabolism.

If you are feeling more tired than usual or noticing other changes in your body, I would recommend you see your regular doctor and get their opinion. Try being more active and replacing carbs with fruits and veggies and see if that changes what you’re noticing in the mirror. (Elizabeth Morgan, MD, PhD, Atlanta Plastic Surgeon)

Liposuction is best done as a body contouring procedure. Weight gain is calories in versus calories out but the contour should be balanced after the liposuction of trouble spots. (Susan D. Vasko, MD, FACS, Columbus Plastic Surgeon)
Post liposuction procedure I like to recommend our patients to perform lymphatic massages to help with the swelling and the liquid accumulation in the surrounding tissues. Also I recommend to gradually reduce the size of the post surgical girdle and to have it on for an entire year to see optimums results. (Mel T. Ortega, MD, Miami Plastic Surgeon)

Weight gain longer term has nothing to do with lipo

Liposuction has virtually nothing to do with weight or muscle tone. The role of the liposuction surgeon is to recontour and reproportion the body. While initially the patient may have some swelling for a few weeks and this may cause temporary weight gain, it is not permanent.

It is the patients responsibility to keep their weight down through proper diet and cardiovascular exercise. Your metabolism may also be changing. You should consult a good nutritionist, get good exercise advise and maybe to be complete have your hormones looked at. (David Amron, MD, Beverly Hills Dermatologic Surgeon)

Liposuction and Weight Gain

Although liposuction does permanently remove the targeted fat cells from problem areas of the body, it is not a vaccination against future weight gain elsewhere. Your previous liposuction would not have any effect on the weight gain that has occurred since the procedure.

Unexplained weight gain can be caused by other issues besides your diet and activity level, including hormone imbalance and stress. If you’ve tried a committed approach toward diet and exercise and are still gaining weight, check with your primary care doctor.

And don’t get too discouraged. Remember that revision lipo is always a future possibility if you need a touchup after you get back down to your target weight. (David N. Sayah, MD, FACS, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)

I recommend to all my Cleveland liposuction patients that they keep a food diary following their liposuction procedures. Why? Because it’s so easy, once thinner, to ignore the basics and find, like you, that a year later they’ve gained weight.

Remember, liposuction isn’t a weight loss method; it’s a “redistribution” method. Just because it removes fat cells from one area doesn’t mean you will never gain weight again. (Paul Vanek, MD, Cleveland Plastic Surgeon)

Your weight gain after your liposuction procedure is unfortunate, but likely unrelated to your surgery. Liposuction, as you know, is not a weight loss operation and is used instead to sculpt and reduce fat in areas of problematic fat accumulation.

While you can have some weight fluctuations immediately following liposuction as the fluid used in the procedure absorbs and then gets excreted, long term weight fluctuations are uncommon following liposuction. My recommendation to you is to discuss this with your general health physician, and make sure you are getting adequate exercise in addition to having healthy eating habits.

These are both very important for your overall well being as well as your weight and shape! (Adam David Lowenstein, MD, FACS, Santa Barbara Plastic Surgeon)