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You’re closer to your ideal weight after practicing healthy eating and exercise habits, but you’re still unhappy with the appearance of your abdomen. You might be frustrated that your belly is still flabbier than you’d like it to be, that it retains a bulge you can’t flatten, or that loose, sagging skin makes you embarrassed to show your midriff. You’re considering treatment to take you that last step to a firm, flat, trim midsection, but you’re not sure which to choose.

In this article, we’ll explain your treatment options and help guide you to the best choice, based on your goals.

It’s Your Body, Your Priorities, and Your Choice

Every body is different and responds in different ways to aging, weight changes, and pregnancy. And every individual has different priorities in life — not just about how they look, but how much time they can take for treatment and how quickly they’d like to see results. Here are the key factors to consider as you weigh your treatment options:

Tummy tuck

A tummy tuck is surgery to tighten loose skin, repair weakened and separated abdominal muscles, and remove excess fat. It’s major surgery, but it’s the most transformative of the procedures to repair a flabby, bulging belly. With a tummy tuck, you’ll get a firm, flat, smooth abdomen and a slimmer waistline. If you have loose, sagging skin on your stomach and your belly bulge is from muscles that no longer hold your midsection flat, a tummy tuck is the only procedure that can restore a youthful appearance.

While a tummy tuck can work wonders to improve your appearance, it does require downtime for recovery. Most patients take at least two weeks off from work, and it can take several more weeks before they feel completely back to normal. For a sense of the results you can expect from a tummy tuck, view our before-and-after photo gallery.

Liposuction

Liposuction is a minimally invasive procedure to remove pockets of excess fat. It’s a body-contouring procedure, not an overall weight-loss treatment, as it targets specific areas of diet- and exercise-resistant fat. In liposuction, a thin tube, or cannula, is inserted through small incisions and used to break up and remove fat deposits. The fat cells removed in liposuction are gone forever and they won’t grow back. If you gain weight after treatment, the remaining fat cells will increase in size, but there are fewer of them in the treated area, so your stomach will remain proportionally slimmer. Liposuction does not work to tighten loose skin or repair weakened abdominal muscles.

Most patients need a few days to a week of downtime after liposuction and may have some short-term swelling and bruising. The slimming effects are visible immediately, and final results appear after about three weeks. You can see examples of these results in our before-and-after photo gallery.

CoolScultping

CoolSculpting is a remarkable new treatment that uses precisely controlled cold temperatures to destroy fat cells where excess fat lingers in pinchable bulges. The technology uses a cooling device that surrounds the area to be treated, chilling the fat to the point where it is damaged, without hurting skin, muscle, and other surrounding tissue. In the weeks following treatment, these damaged fat cells are naturally processed out of the body as waste.

You’ll have no downtime after a CoolSculpting session. You can walk out of treatment and go straight back to work or resume your normal activities. Final results appear about three months after treatment, and it can take more than one session to achieve optimal results.

Learn More About Abdominal Treatments in Beverly Hills

Dr. David Kim and Dr. Eugene Kim at Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery have developed an impeccable reputation for stunning, natural-looking cosmetic treatment and plastic surgery results, attracting patients from all over the world. Contact our practice today at (310) 746-5475 or send an online request to schedule a consultation and a recommendation on the abdominal treatment — or treatments — best suited to your needs. For many patients, a combination of procedures is the ideal solution.

 

Body contouring is the term for the set of cosmetic treatments that sculpt and shape your body to improve your appearance. Some trim excess fat that can remain in stubborn bulges after you’ve lost weight with diet and exercise or that may form as you age. Some tighten loose skin and weakened muscles that have stretched with weight changes or pregnancy. Some reshape parts of your body to improve your figure.

If you’re unhappy with the shape or appearance of some part of your body and aren’t getting the results you want through healthy eating and exercise habits, you might be a good candidate for body contouring. And if you’ve considered body contouring, you probably have questions about the many options.

Here are answers to some common questions about body contouring:

Can Body Contouring Help Me Lose Weight?

This may be the most common question about body contouring, and the simple answer is: not directly. Body contouring treatments are intended to sculpt and shape your body when you are reasonably close to your ideal weight. They aren’t a weight-loss method and don’t work to remove significant amounts of fat over large areas of your body. That said, many body-contouring procedures do remove fat in specific parts of your body, which can eliminate a pound or two — even several pounds — of excess flab and a half-inch to three inches from your waistline. The results can also make you feel better about your body and yourself, which, for some people, is a motivation to put on exercise clothes and be more active. In that way, body contouring can have an indirect effect on weight loss.

How do I decide which body contouring procedure is right for me?

The choice of body contouring procedure will depend on your body and your goals, as well as your willingness to have surgery with its resulting downtime.

A consultation with a skilled and experienced plastic surgeon is the best way to understand your body contouring choices and find out which will best address your needs. A combination of procedures might be the best solution for you.

How long do the results of body contouring last?

The results of body contouring are long-lasting if you maintain a steady weight. The fat cells removed with CoolSculpting or liposuction are gone from that part of your body forever, and new cells will not grow there. But fat cells in the treated area and elsewhere on your body will increase in size if you gain weight, which can undo some of the positive effects of your treatment. In much the same way, you can lose the smooth, firm abdomen you get with a tummy tuck if you gain significant weight or have more children.

To maintain your results, make healthy eating and exercise habits part of your normal routine and avoid the cycles of weight gain and loss that can result from extreme dieting.

Learn More About Body Contouring in Beverly Hills

Dr. David Kim and Dr. Eugene Kim at Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery have developed an impeccable reputation for stunning, natural-looking cosmetic treatment and plastic surgery results, attracting patients from all over the world. Contact our practice today at (310) 746-5475 or send an online request to schedule a consultation.

Med Spa Services in Beverly Hills

Sun damage, aging, and heredity among other factors can impact your skin appearance. It can make you appear older than you actually are. There are several innovative skin rejuvenation procedures available for people that want to restore a youthful look without having to undergo a cosmetic surgery.

Dr. David Kim is a plastic surgeon at Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery offering advanced cosmetic surgery and medical spa treatments. Dr. Kim provides state of the art procedures for the body, breast, and face to patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA, and surrounding locations.

Choosing a Plastic Surgeon

It is prudent to choose a medical spa provider that is not just led by a physician, but an experienced and fully qualified plastic surgeon. Board certification acts as an automatic assurance that the cosmetic surgeon has the required amount training.

Typically, high quality standards are maintained by plastic surgeons. They continue to pursue best medical practices and adopt advanced techniques and technology. They also provide the best care to their patients and follow all safety protocols. The same practices and quality standards are implemented for both invasive and non-invasive procedures at the treatment center.

Customized and Personalized Care

Dr. Kim’s medical spa guarantees individualistic treatment for all patients. You can be assured of the highest standard of care and attention from the cosmetic surgeon and dedicated staff. Patients are made to feel comfortable. They are also encouraged at Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery to share all their skin health and aesthetic concerns in detail.

All your questions will be addressed by Dr. Kim in the best possible way to help you make an informed decision. You can count on Dr. Kim and his staff throughout the treatment process to guide and support you. You can be sure of achieving the best possible results as per your expectations.

Proven and Safe Non-Surgical Procedures

You should choose a medical spa or practice where you can be sure of achieving optimal skin rejuvenation results in a predictable and safe manner. It takes an experienced and highly skilled medical practitioner to ensure that patient safety is completely assured.

Dr. Kim is known for closely engaging with all his patients and being personally involved in their treatment process. This is irrespective of the type of procedure you want to undergo.

You can get minimally invasive and non-invasive treatment procedures at Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery. These are suitable for candidates that want to rejuvenate their facial appearance without having to undergo a cosmetic surgery or interrupt their busy schedules. These are a few key treatments offered by Dr. Kim:

As a plastic surgeon, Dr. Kim is not just experienced with a strong clinical background, but also compassionate and personable. Patients feel completely comfortable around him and trust his advice to enhance their health and aesthetic appearance.

Cosmetic surgeon Dr. David Kim receives patients from Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA, and nearby areas for innovative and advanced med spa treatments as well as plastic surgery procedures.

Schedule a Consultation with Beverly Hills California Plastic Surgeon Dr. Kim

For more information on the surgical and non-surgical procedures and treatments by Cosmetic Plastic Surgeons Dr. David Kim and Dr. Eugene Kim.  Click here to contact us today.

Also visit drdavidkim.com

Serving Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Orange County, Southern California and surrounding areas.

Lower Body Lift Surgery

Lower body lifts or flankplasty is a surgical procedure that helps in enhancing the appearance of your lower body. It specifically targets the lower back and hips and extends all the way down the sides. Flanks are a particularly difficult area for toning through the right diet and exercise. Flankplasty can be used by patients to improve their body contour.

It involves body lifting techniques, skin removal surgery, and liposuction. plastic surgeon Dr. David Kim provides lower body lift and mid body lift to patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA, and surrounding locations.

Flankplasty: Who is an Ideal Candidate?

A large part of the weight loss for many patients occurs in the buttocks, flanks, thighs, and hips. Such an extreme weight loss can leave the patient with large skin folds that cause discomfort or chafing. Lower body lifts can go a long way in not just removing this excess skin, but also lifting the buttocks and adding contours to the body.

Flankplasty is a less invasive procedure as compared to a full body lift plastic surgery. It can help you if you have sagging lower body skin because of aging or pregnancy or have recently lost massive weight.

Understanding Lower Body Lift Procedure

Your surgeon will begin the lower body lift by making a small incision around your waist. This incision will be across the lower abdomen, down to the inner thighs. Your surgeon’s expertise and specific needs will determine the particular incision patterns.

The surgeon will try to place the incisions in discreet locations which can be hidden by clothing or underwear. They will access and remove any excess tissue or fat through these incisions before stretching the skin taut for trimming it. Sutures will then be used to close the incisions and cover them with compression garments or bandages.

Many patients want to choose a mid body lift and/or abdominoplasty along with a lower body lift surgery since it is difficult to tighten the lower body region without touching the abdomen. You should expect to resume your normal work schedule within 2 to 3 weeks after surgery.

Understanding Mid Body Lift

Torsoplasty or mid body lift treats the abdominal area in the human body in addition to hips, thighs, and buttocks. This is a preferred cosmetic surgery option as compared to lower body lift since the surgeon can create continuous and smooth contours from the patient’s abdomen to their thighs.

Your surgeon will remove extra skin by making incisions in a manner similar to lower body lift. They will access the abdominal muscles through these incisions around the waist to pull them together and suture them in place. This will give you a flatter stomach and a trimmer waistline.

The surgeon after reshaping your abdominal muscles and removing any surplus fat will trim away the excess skin and close the incisions. Scars in this surgery are similar to those in lower body lift. Cosmetic surgeon Dr. David Kim receives patients from Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA, and nearby areas for lower body lift, mid body lift and various other body contouring surgeries.

Schedule a Consultation with Beverly Hills California Plastic Surgeon Dr. Kim

For more information on the surgical and non-surgical procedures and treatments by Cosmetic Plastic Surgeons Dr. David Kim and Dr. Eugene Kim.  Click here to contact us today.

Also visit drdavidkim.com

Serving Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Orange County, Southern California and surrounding areas.

Cheek Implants vs Dermal Fillers

Cheek implants and dermal fillers are two of the most popular cosmetic options for people looking to change the appearance of their mid-face. Fillers and implants help in improving your facial appearance by making the mid-face look plumper, fuller, and youthful. In addition, both the procedures are safe.

The right option for you will depend on your individual preferences. plastic surgeon Dr. David Kim provides both surgical and non-surgical mid-face enhancement procedures to patients in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA, and surrounding communities.

These are a few factors that should be considered before making a decision:

Number of Sessions Required

Number of treatments required is the biggest difference between getting dermal filler or an implant. You need just one surgery whether you are getting a jawline implant or a cheek implant. The plastic surgeon will insert the implant without the need for multiple treatment sessions.

However, in case of fillers, you may require more than one treatment. Most patients opting for dermal fillers need at least 2 to 5 sessions. However, you should know that some dermal fillers offer longer lasting results than the rest.

Longevity of Results

Longevity of results is another major factor that should be considered. Cheek implants offer long lasting results. In some cases, the results can last forever. In comparison, dermal filler outcomes may not last for more than 6 months to two years.

Procedure Length

The procedure of inserting cheek implants or administering facial filler is fast. However, dermal fillers can be injected in a matter of minutes whereas implant insertion may take 1 – 3 hours.

Anesthesia

Implants require anesthesia since it is a highly invasive surgery. Dermal fillers don’t require any type of sedation. You should consider dermal fillers if you cannot bear being put under.

Recovery

You can recover from cosmetic fillers in just a few hours. In comparison, it may take anywhere from 3 – 6 weeks to recover fully from cheek implants surgery. You may want to opt for dermal fillers if you don’t have the option to take time off work.

Cost of the Procedure

Surgeries are definitely more expensive than dermal injectables. Cheek implant procedure will cost you more than having dermal fillers. However, you need to do a cost analysis since facial implants offer lifelong results whereas dermal fillers do not. You should speak to your cosmetic surgeon about the overall cost effectiveness of both procedures and then make a salient decision.

Bruising & Swelling

Dermal fillers don’t really result in a lot of swelling or bruising. However, you may experience mild to moderate swelling and bruising for several weeks following a cheek implant surgery.

Reversing Procedure Results

Generally, you would want results of an implant or a dermal filler to last forever. However, in case you change your mind, you will need another procedure to reverse the results of an implant surgery. On the other hand, results from dermal fillers will wear out after a few months.

Cosmetic surgeon Dr. David Kim receives patients from Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA, and nearby areas for cheek implants, facial filler injections, and other mid-face enhancement treatments.

Schedule a Consultation with Beverly Hills California Plastic Surgeon Dr. Kim

For more information on the surgical and non-surgical procedures and treatments by Cosmetic Plastic Surgeons Dr. David Kim and Dr. Eugene Kim.  Click here to contact us today.

Also visit drdavidkim.com

Serving Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Orange County, Southern California and surrounding areas.