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

If you have loose skin before liposuction, you are going to have loose skin after liposuction. This is true regardless of technique (tumescent, Smartlipo, etc).

If you have full skin (extra fat) but not loose and no stretch marks, then you are a great candidate for liposuction or Smartlipo.

If you have loose skin, then you would likely be a better candidate for abdominoplasty or tummy tuck. (David Shafer, MD, FACS, New York Plastic Surgeon)

The liposuction procedure itself does not cause the skin to shrink. However, liposuction is a procedure that is selected for patients who have problem areas with the elastic skin covering them. In properly selected patients removal of the underlying fat will result in shrinking of the skin.

However, in patients who have inelastic skin liposuction can indeed make the overlying skin appear more loose and uneven. (Austin Hayes, MD, Portland Plastic Surgeon)

Skin shrinks smoothly

The skin does shrink after liposuction, depending on the patient and the way in which the liposuction was performed. It is very common to have nice smooth contours, but this depends on your starting point. (Gary Lawton, MD, FACS, San Antonio Plastic Surgeon)

The skin may tighten back up again to a certain extent, a process that is helped along by wearing a compression garment after your surgery. However if you have a lot of loose skin it will not.

Sagging can become very noticeable. For this reason, a tummy tuck is more suitable when there is excess skin and fat present. (Jerome Edelstein, MD, Toronto Plastic Surgeon)

Dr Robert Kratschmer, MD, Houston Plastic Surgeon – 50 Year Old Woman Treated With SmartLipo Triplex With Skin Tightening

Ultrasonic liposuction (VASER) should tighten the skin over 6-12 months.

It depends on your skin quality and amount of excess which determines the total amount. (Christopher K. Livingston, MD, Houston Plastic Surgeon)

Skin Shrinkage and Liposuction

Unfortunately liposuction does not shrink and tighten the skin despite the claim of many of the newly introduced “smart’ devices.

Skin laxity is in general a consistent and permanent occurrence and can only be treated by lifts and excisional surgery such as an Abdominoplasty.

Liposuction in face of loose skin can make matters worse and create further laxity. So make sure that you understand the mechanism liposuction and more importantly make sure you wee out the false claims of many of the newly introduced devices. (Sepehr Egrari, MD, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)

Skin can tighten after liposuction

Obviuosly, the quality of the result depends on the quality (or elasticity ) of your skin. Standard liposuction does not do anything directly to tighten the skin. It can contract on its own if it has enough elastic fibers At the recent ASPS National Meeting, I presented a comparison of Smart Lipo on one side vs lipo alone on the other.

There was a significant increase inelasticity and skin contraction on the Smart lipo side. This can help tighten your skin. (Barry E. DiBernardo, MD, Montclair Plastic Surgeon)

There has been a lot of interest in the idea of enhancing skin shrinkage with liposuction, and some are even calling it the scarless tummy tuck. There was a spirited discussion on this at the recent meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

In a nutshell, here are the issues: skin shrinks to varying degrees with plain liposuction, so any enhancements have to be measured in comparison to that. Then there are 3 technologies that have all presented research data showing more skin tightening after lipo: laser (for example Smart Lipo), VASER (ultrasound), and Thermage, given immediately after the liposuction (that was my own research and presented at the meeting.) However, none of these do what a tummy tuck does so be very skeptical of any marketing pitches that position them as an “alternative” to tummy tuck. (Richard Baxter, MD, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)

Skin shrinkage is unpredictable

There are many different factors that may affect skin shrinkage with liposuctioning including technique, skin quality, device used, amount of fat removed, how much skin is there… and luck. As plastic surgeons we can only give an educated guess as to what might happen in any individual patient.

You need to see pictures of patients who have had minimal skin shrinkage and see if you would be willing to accept those results or willing to do surgical skin removal if that happened. (John P. Stratis, MD, Harrisburg Plastic Surgeon)

Shrinking skin after liposuction is difficult

How much the skin shrinks after liposuction depends on your age, skin properties and whether you have had children. You inquire specifically about the abdominal area. If you have had a child, I find that none of the methods for liposuction will shrink the skin sufficiently.

Sometimes slightly loose skin is acceptable to the patient, but the only way to really tighten skin is to remove the excess. (Francisco Canales, MD, Santa Rosa Plastic Surgeon)

Liposuction and skin shrinkage

I have no doubts that after laser assisted liposculpture (SmartLipo, ProLipo, Slim Lipo, etc), and even Vaser liposuction, that skin can tighten more so than with just liposuction. Look at some of my before after pictures on the neck and you will see this.

Several of the patients have mainly sagging skin and minimal fatty tissue. Many doctors who do not use laser assisted liposuction or liposculpture will demean this approach but my experience over the last 4 years with these newer technologies confirms they can help.

Yes there are limitations, so see an experienced plastic surgeon who performs traditional liposuction, laser assisted, and traditional surgical body contouring. He/She will then let you know which approach will best meet your needs based on the physical examination and amount of skin laxity and bulging. (Theodore Katz, MD, FACS, Philadelphia Plastic Surgeon)

It depends on many factors.

The skin will”tighten” if it is young, firm and elastic. As we get older the skin becomes looser and looses its elasticity. Therefore it will not “shrink”. See an experienced liposuction doctor to guide you as to whether or not this will happen.

If the skin is “hanging” liposuction will not take care of this. (Toby Mayer, MD, Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon)

Skin tightening after liposuction: a myth?

Patients, device companies, and surgeons talk about skin tightening after liposuction. If we are strict about what is happening biologically and physiologically, the only way skin itself can tighten is for scarring or some other contracting force to be applied to the skin.

Skin contouring is different from skin tightening. The only way for skin to tighten is to create scarring in the dermal or deeper layer of the skin. Liposuction does not do this. Energy-assisted liposuction devices claim to create a tightening effect by causing reactions in the deep layer of skin or superficial subcutaneous layers produced by thermal injury.

The skin can re-drape or re-contour but not from skin tightening per se. Usually liposuction will cause re-contouring of the skin by a passive release of the intrinsic elasticity of the skin and dermal layer.

The more “juicy” the fatty areas, the more it will do this. A balloon that is bouncy and full will collapse when air is removed. A floppy plastic bag will simply hang down. (Robin T.W. Yuan, MD, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)

Skin tightening from Liposuction is unpredictable

There is NO WAY to predict if skin will tighten to your satisfaction after liposuction. If the skin is young, healthy(= not abused by sun, tanning booths or smoking), not containing stretch marks – then SOME skin shrinking can be expected after liposuction.

If the skin is old, tanned, dry, thin, beat up and covered with stretch marks it will shrink poorly. Through the years, Plastic surgeons have tried multiple modalities of liposuction to bring about greater skin shrinkage ALL with mixed or unimpressive results.

SUPERFICIAL liposuction (suction close to the skin to irritate it and bring about scar shrinkage of skin), external ultrasound applied to the skin before and after liposuction, internal ultrasound and now various laser liposuction probes to heat the skin from below.

Ultimately, it will depend on your skin. If your skin is damaged you may require a lift procedure. If is healthy, you may get enough skin shrinkage to satisfy your goals. (Peter A. Aldea, MD, Memphis Plastic Surgeon)

The skin that will shrink well is thick, healthy, has few to no stretchmarks, no rolls or folds, and doesn’t continue to wiggle for a few seconds after you shake it.

If the skin is good, it will shrink after liposuction. If it is not, the skin will be lax and disappointing looking. Please understand that no liposuction technology (ie Smartlipo or laser lipo) will make the skin shrink better than mother nature. (Richard P. Rand, MD, FACS, Seattle Plastic Surgeon)