Liposuction is the second most commonly performed procedure in plastic surgery. It’s deemed to be so easy in fact that most physicians performing liposuction are not certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon. For this reason, as well as other errors in judgment, excellent results in liposuction are not always achieved. We have extensive experience in revision of liposuction results and confidently approach each of your concerns with our armamentarium of surgical techniques.
Poor contour or shape
Smaller is not necessarily more beautiful! Liposuction sculpts your figure by removing fat. Unfortunately at times, the fat is removed without any attention to the overall body shape and figure. You are left with a smaller body indeed, but your shape is simply off. While removing the fat, the plastic surgeon should have the mindset of a sculptor who is sculpting your figure with the small cannula. More fat will need to be removed in certain areas and less in other areas to give you the beautiful figure you deserve.
To correct your figure or shape after liposuction, particular attention has to be paid your bodies overall fat distribution and the shape of your frame and musculature beneath. With these factors in mind, we will be removing your fat with thin cannulas or fine metal straws to correct the results of your prior liposuction. The curves of your waist will be accentuated to give you a slimmer appearance without making you appear like a stick. The small dimples on your lower back will be sculpted to give you a younger appearing back. We will also create the subtle depressions at your outer hips to create an athletic look at your thighs. Other details which will be sculpted would include a line at the center of your abdomen and even a four pack in those who have the appropriate underlying structures. It is this attention to creating your figure which distinguishes our liposculpture technique from other practices.
Lumpiness
The most common reason for bumpy results after liposuction is uneven removal of fat during the liposuction procedure. It’s always easier to have the procedure performed correctly the first time, as revisions are typically more challenging. We have excellent techniques to correct irregularities from liposuction. Every bump has to be removed with a very fine cannula while every dimple or depression has to be filled with the fat removed elsewhere.
Most people assume that the muscles or other structures beneath the fat are perfectly smooth. It turns out that the muscles beneath the fat are not smooth at all and are in fact bumpy. This is evident in patients who have had too much fat removed throughout a particular area. It’s tempting to have all of your fat removed particularly if you have been fighting to burn off the fat through hours of exercise per day. But a fine even layer of fat is absolutely necessary to cover the deeper irregularities while also allowing your skin to glide over the structures below. The slippery fat essentially allows your skin to not be tethered down as your muscle beneath move several inches in their effort to create motion. Without this fine layer of fat, your skin’s inability to glide causes visible dimples and wrinkles with body movements as your skin is pulled in one direction or another with the contraction of muscles below. The best option in such difficult cases is micro-fat injection. Fat is harvested or removed from your body areas which have residual fat to spare. The fat is processed to isolate the live fat cells and injected in small droplets to form the fine layer of fat necessary to hide deeper contour irregularities. |The injected layer of fat will also serve as a slippery lubricant deep to your skin which enables the skin to glide with motion. We look forward to seeing you in our office for a consultation to discuss the revision of liposuction results.
Excess loose skin
Liposuction alone is not for everyone. In cases where skin elasticity or springiness is decreased, the skin will not tightened-up after the fat has been removed by liposuction. The resulting excess loose skin is a problem which will have to be addressed by other surgical procedures. The perfect analogy for this scenario is the looseness of your clothes after you have lost a significant amount of weight. A tailor will have to remove the excess fabric in your clothes and fit it to your new figure.
In cases of mild skin excess after liposuction, it’s probably best to not pursue any other procedures. If moderate or severe, a surgical tightening will have to be performed at the area with loose skin. At the abdomen, either a limited (mini) or a standard tummy tuck will be necessary. At the thighs, an inner or outer thigh lift will be necessary to remove the excess skin. You must always weigh the benefits of any revision procedure compared to the risks. Most procedures involving a lift or tuck requires additional scars, which though hidden, you will have to accept. We pride ourselves on being able to achieve the smallest scars possible. But even the smaller tummy tuck scar is larger than the liposuction scars you initially accepted. Much planning will therefore go into your procedure and we will spend as much time as necessary during several consultations to address your concerns and aid you in making the best decisions.
Residual excess fat
Probably the easiest of the problems to address, residual excess fat can be corrected by another liposculpture procedure. Second-time-around liposuction is a bit more difficult than the first time, but excellent results are typical.
Unevenness
Most everyone is uneven from one side of the body to another. Liposuction can accentuate your body’s asymmetry, or even cause unevenness which did not exist prior to surgery. More fat can be removed at another liposuction surgery to even the results and improve your contour.
