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

Patients can expect some degree of skin tightening following Vaser liposuction. If you already have loose or droopy skin prior to surgery, the likelihood of your skin tightening up enough after liposuction alone is decreased.

Different patients have different inherent skin elasticity; if you have a lot of stretch marks or skin that already hangs over your underwear line, your plastic surgeon may recommend some form of skin excision (abdominoplasty, panniculectomy, et cetera).(Ashley B. Robey, MD, Indianapolis Plastic Surgeon)

Predicting degree of skin tightening after Vaser liposuction is very difficult.

Even with Vaser Liposuction that heats the tissue to cause skin retraction you would likely be left with deflated skin requiring a surgery to remove it down the line.

A tummy tuck will remove the skin and all the abdominal muscles to be repaired at the same time. This will help flatten your stomach. Liposuction of the hips and back may be more appropriate and help you achieve your aesthetic goals. (Jacob Bloom, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)

Vaser Liposuction and skin tightening

In my opinion, liposuction is a great way to reduce the fat volume in the subcutaneous space but it does not significantly tighten the skin no matter what machine is used. (Steven Wallach, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)

These are really two different procedure with two completely different outcomes. Vaser Lipo will decrease the thickness of the fatty layer and create a smaller version of the current you.

Liposuction will improve your shape by decreasing the fullness from just underneath the breast all the way down to the pubic region, as well as narrow your waist, shrink your love handles, and improve your lower back.

Liposuction does not remove skin but your skin will shrink around the new smaller you. With liposuction, the skin will not tighten to the level that a tummy tuck will provide.

Liposuction will improve your shape and you will look way better in clothes. A tummy tuck will make you more bikini ready but it does come with scars. (Justin Yovino, MD, FACS, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)

The tummy tuck will tighten your stomach muscles, helping to achieve a flatter appearance, while removing excess skin and adipose tissue.

Liposuction can be used to enhance your tummy tuck results by narrowing your waist and removing isolated areas of diet and exercise resistant fat and can be performed on your back to improved results. (Nelson Castillo, MD, Atlanta Plastic Surgeon)

Combining liposuction with tummy tuck gives the most dramatic results

Abdominal rejuvenation after pregnancy addresses 3 key anatomic issues that must be evaluated in each patient, and depending on what areas are involved, a procedure can be tailored for the best results. The 3 areas include:

1) The deep abdominal musculature

Every woman should be evaluated for rectus muscle diastasis, which is separation of the six pack muscle. This separation can lead to pooching out of the abdomen, and sometimes it is so severe that a woman may still look pregnant. A diastasis repair can sew the muscles back together to return them to their midline position, keeping the core of the abdomen flat. This sets the foundation for a great result.

2) Excess and stubborn fatty deposits

Every woman’s fatty deposits vary, and in some women is focused just in the lower abdomen, and this is easily treated with direct excision with a traditional tummy tuck.

In some women, the fatty deposits extend to the hips or love-handle region which can be treated with the addition of liposuction. In some women there are stubborn fatty deposits throughout the waist and over the rib cage in addition to the hips and love handle region.

For these women, I recommend a Saldanha technique which safely combines a maximum amount of liposuction throughout the abdomen with excision if skin in the lower abdomen. This techniques does not cut the blood supply to the skin in a tummy tuck allowing more liposuction to be done.

3) Excess skin

If there is loose skin only in the area below the belly button, then a mini or modified tummy tuck can be done with a short scar, just slightly longer than a c-section scar.

For women with loose skin also above the belly button a traditional or a Saldanha tummy tuck is required to remove all the skin in the lower abdomen, and pull down the skin in the upper abdomen – and in these cases, a scar is made around the belly button.

A formal evaluation will help you know which of these components you have and what technique can be tailored for the best results. Liposuction alone is best for patients with very little loose skin.(Kamakshi Zeidler, MD, Bay Area Plastic Surgeon)

When assessing body contouring of the lower abdomen, affectionately termed “the pot” or “the pooch”, it is important to assess a number of characteristics and features. First it is important for your certified liposuction and tummy tuck surgeon to assess skin elasticity and contractility.

Remember that once fat is removed, if standard liposuction is performed, the skin may contract to between 5% and 6%, which will be enough if you have excellent skin tone and elasticity. However, if you happen to be slightly older or have had weight loss/weight gain or have had multiple children, the skin tone and elasticity tends to be compromised.

Once you have removed fat without removing skin, as in standard or even energy-assisted liposuction techniques, the skin tone may not be optimal. If there is modest skin laxity, advanced liposuction surgeons who use heating techniques such as SmartLipo™, or international plastic surgeons who use BodyTite™, between 17% and 35% area contraction can be achieved in expert hands.

This may be enough to get the kind of skin contraction and contours you desire for your lower abdomen. However, if your skin laxity exceeds the ability of the technique to provide skin contraction after removal of fat, you may be disappointed with the quality of your skin following liposuction alone.

In these situations, your certified plastic surgeon may recommend a variety of techniques, such as mini-skin only tummy tucks in combination with advanced energy-assisted liposuction techniques (SmartLipo™, BodyTite™) or a full skin-only tummy tuck kind of procedure and/or a tummy tuck combined with abdominal wall muscle, called rectus plication, may be performed.

You should always assess the risks and benefits of any procedure, as well as the recovery and the surgical outcomes in deciding upon which technique will work for you. Always seek the advice of a board certified physician with good word-of-mouth referral and good testimonial clients. (R. Stephen Mulholland, MD, Toronto Plastic Surgeon)

Often times after pregnancy, women are left with some abdominal fat that they cannot shed no matter how much they exercise. Liposuction can be very helpful in treating this unwanted fat. Sometimes after pregnancy the abdominal wall muscles also become stretched out (myofascial laxity) or separated from one another (diastasis).

In this case, a tummy tuck can repair the laxity and produce a flatter appearing abdomen. It appears from your photo that liposuction might be very helpful, but an exam by a board certified plastic surgeon is a great idea. (Joshua Cooper, MD, FACS, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)