Liposuction and Loose Skin: What You Need to Know
Liposuction, also referred to as lipoplasty, suction lipectomy, or liposculpture, can be a great strategy for achieving slimmer, more sculpted body proportions by permanently eliminating fat cells. However, creating a balanced, lean figure is about more than just removing fat. Patients also need to consider the role skin plays in their silhouette. With that in mind, patients are often concerned about what their skin will look like after they undergo liposuction. Chicago plastic surgeon Dr. Lawrence Iteld points out that it’s common for people who have experienced significant weight loss to have a surplus of sagging skin. This is especially true when the skin is older and has lost its youthful spring.
Before going in for liposuction surgery, patients should ask as many questions as they can and be aware of what they can realistically expect from the procedure. Though there are various techniques used, all liposuction procedures share the same basic concept: Fat is loosened under the skin and extracted through small incisions with special instruments. Even people who exercise obsessively and maintain healthy diet habits can find it difficult to slim down certain areas of the body, such as the love handles on the flanks or bulges on the belly. Liposuction can help reduce this unwanted volume, but the procedure is not intended to tighten lax skin that has already lost elasticity.
If excess skin is one of your primary concerns, another treatment or procedure is called for, whether performed on its own or in conjunction with surgical fat reduction. Some of the other issues liposuction can’t directly address are cellulite, dimples, stretch marks, and skin quality problems.
Generally, liposuction is recommended for people who are healthy and without any circulation or immune system problems. Though candidates for the procedure may worry that the surgery will leave them with large amounts of saggy skin, know that this is rarely the case. An ideal candidate is someone who has relatively firm, young skin, with good tone and elasticity—and an experienced plastic surgeon will discuss this ahead of making any decisions. The goal is for skin retraction to occur as it tightens gradually over the new body shape.
Compression garments, or elastic support bandages provided to patients, help this process along. These also ensure that the skin on de-fatted areas remains smooth and unwrinkled as the swelling gradually goes down and new results are revealed. Even for patients who have elastic skin, caring for scars will be important. Proper attention can prevent scars from becoming irritated or discolored via sun exposure or infection.
Liposuction is commonly applied to areas of the body that feature grabbable amounts of fat, from the abdomen to the flanks, hips, back, thighs, arms, and neck. Depending on the region of the body you hope to address, various other cosmetic techniques may be applied for loose skin.
It’s common—especially after pregnancy, when the center of gravity has changed or the stomach muscles and skin have become stretched—for women to gain a lower belly “pooch.” If you hope to correct muscle tone and get rid of flabby skin from around this area, whether due to pregnancy, weight loss, aging, or other factors, your better option may be a tummy tuck. This is a cosmetic surgery strategy that encompasses some or all of the abdomen. The goal is to flatten and contour the stomach by surgically removing fat and lax skin, while tightening the remaining skin and improving the muscle wall structure. Liposuction is also sometimes used as a part of lifts, such as brachioplasty surgeries (arm lifts). In this treatment, fat is taken out, tissues are reshaped, and skin is re-draped and pulled tight with sutures.
A nonsurgical option for addressing loose skin is BodyTite, which involves the insertion of a heat-generating prong through a carefully placed incision. A corresponding panel on the surface of the treatment area simultaneously monitors skin temperature to generate optimal, safe temperatures for skin tightening. The heat below causes the connective tissues between the skin and muscle to shrink, as well as prompts processes that create new collagen. These protein molecules play a critical role in skin’s structural support, so increasing their numbers leads to a firmer, sleeker look as opposed to sagging and laxity. Since the body is going through a rejuvenative process, final results can take up to three to six months. BodyTite also has the added benefit of liquefying small amounts of fat to reduce volume. This technology can be used in most areas of the body.
Iteld Plastic Surgery offers liposuction and other body contouring services for the Chicago area and beyond. To learn more about how skin may be affected by liposuction and other procedures, call 312.757.4505 or submit a contact form online.
Comments