You can diet and exercise and diet and exercise more, but sometimes there’s an area of the body that just doesn’t respond.
For women, those areas are particularly stubborn and women often turn to liposuction to get rid of that stubborn fat.
But many of us haven’t a clue what liposuction is, other than it’s a vacuuming of fat. And we know little of who should get it done, what it’s used for and what actually happens during the procedure.
Who should get liposuction?
While we talk primarily of women, men also get liposuction, but not in the same numbers as women. Women comprise about 90% of the clients that get liposuction and most of those women are not overweight or out of shape.
In fact, doctors recommend that women who are considering liposuction should take their own basic health into consideration first. Rarely are overweight patients approved for liposuction because it’s likely the procedure won’t do much for them.
Ideally a liposuction patient is of average (or just above average) weight and is in decent physical shape. Not only will she recover more easily from surgery, but the skin will be firmer and more elastic and will recover better from surgery than skin that’s sagging and lacks tautness.
What’s it used for?
Liposuction is generally performed on the parts of the body that are the most difficult to control through diet and exercise alone. These areas include:
Thighs
Buttocks
Hips
Calves
Arms
Abdomen
Naturally, these are also usually the fattiest part of the body.
What happens during the procedure?
In its simplest terms, liposuction is about sucking fat out of the body.
During the surgery, the surgeon makes a small incision in the skin and inserts a small stainless steel tube that’s hollow inside. He inserts this into the deep fat layer of the fat, rather than the superficial layer of fat. Reaching deeper into the layers of fat is safer and more efficient.
Once there, the surgeon will move the tube in and out, or push and pull the tube through the fat layer. As he does this, fat cells are broken up and the fat is sucked out of the body by a vacuum pump or a syringe.
These days many doctors use a motorized version of the tube, so the motion of pushing and pulling the tube through the layers of fat is motorized and automatic. Doctors say that using a motorized tube is faster, and results in smoother and nicer results for the patient.
Most patients have liposuction under a local anesthesia, so they can go home the same day. Some patients will have the procedure done while they are under a general anesthesia so they will go home the following day after a night in the hospital.
Patients might be required to wear a tight fitting garment to encourage healing and reduce swelling and they might be asked to drain fluid from the affected area. As a precautionary measure, some patients will also be prescribed an antibiotic to prevent infection.
It might not sound or look pretty, but the end result for many patients is happy enough they are willing to endure the discomfort to get it.
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