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For many of our Beverly Hills patients, liposuction surgery is a great way to shed stubborn pockets of fat that are resistant to exercise. However, the best results come when patients are already close to the ideal weight before starting liposuction treatment. Here’s why:

Liposuction vs. Weight-loss surgery

Since its introduction, liposuction has become synonymous with beautiful figures. The surgery is known for helping patients remove stubborn pockets of fat and reveal trim figures, even helping drop a couple of pounds on the scale. However, at its core, liposuction is fundamentally a body-contouring surgery. Unlike weight-loss procedures like gastric bypass which restrict food intake, liposuction treats minor to moderate fat deposits. No mechanisms in the liposuction treatment process target the main causes of weight gain – overeating, genetics and lack of physical activity. Best results are achieved when patients are committed to their well-being and have maintained a consistent, healthy weight.

Fat Loss Does Not Necessarily Mean Weight Loss

As liposuction does not target the culprits behind weight gain, the treatment does not necessarily equate to weight loss. While some patients may see a few pounds come off following treatment, even removing significant pockets of fat won’t drastically change the number on the scale. The best way to lose weight is not by removing fat with liposuction – it’s by eating a healthy diet and replacing excess fat with strong, lean muscle.

Liposuction Is Only Effective When You Maintain Weight

Fat is unique compared to other cells in that they fluctuate in size as an individual gains weight. While the cells can shrink and can be removed through liposuction, remaining fat can become enlarged with poor health habits. Achieving your ideal weight and staying there is an important step in keeping your post-liposuction body. Substantial weight gain may require additional recontouring procedures.

Eliminating as much fat as possible through diet and exercise, before undergoing liposuction, also has a positive impact on your treatment results. Bumps and lumps of fat that linger can then be specifically removed during surgery, maximizing your results and improving overall appearance. While liposuction can certainly be used in cases where patients are still working towards a healthy weight, premature treatment may mean that patients must come back for additional liposuction once they’ve achieved their goal weight.

Your Health is the Top Priority

While liposuction is completed with small incisions and with the use of a thin tube that extracts fat cells, it nonetheless remains a surgical procedure. As with other procedures, the surgical process may not be suitable for overweight or obese patients due to the increased risk of complications. Rather than putting your health on the line, spend the time working with a physician to shed the weight naturally before turning the cosmetic treatments. At Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery, our experienced team has worked with countless patients to provide liposuction and other body contouring solutions once they’ve reached a healthy weight.

Is Now the Time for Liposuction? Find out at BHPS

When it comes to providing exceptional care, the surgeons at Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery focus on evaluating a patient’s current needs, their expectations, and realistic results. Together, we serve as your partner in achieving your ideal appearance and figure. For patients thinking about liposuction, we recommend coming in for a preliminary consultation to explore your options and develop a treatment strategy. Call Dr. David Kim and Dr. Eugene Kim at (310) 746-5475 to get started.

 

Stubborn pockets of fat can be difficult to target, even with an intensive workout regimen and a great diet. Individuals who find themselves in the boat of being close to achieving their dream figure but are blocked by these stubborn bumps find liposuction to be a great option – and for good reason. While the treatment may best be known for removing stubborn fat from the abdomen, liposuction is among the most versatile plastic surgeries available. Furthermore, the treatment’s versatility makes it possible for patients to recontour almost any part of the body, from the neck to the thighs. In recent years, certain areas have emerged as the most popular liposuction treatment areas:

Waist, Hips, Abdomen

For men and women alike, a smooth, flat stomach or washboard abs can be a source of pride once finally achieved. However, if you find yourself with love handles or a muffin top, no number of crunches or carb cutting can completely remove these lovingly named pockets of excess adipose tissue (fat cells).

Using liposuction to help remove extra fat and smooth out these areas is a popular option for men and women, especially in the months leading up to summer vacations. By removing the unnecessary layer of fat tissue from the abdomen, lips, and waist, patients feel more confident in their appearance, whether preparing for a beach trip or wearing form-fitting clothes that show off their physique.

Abdominal liposuction isn’t just ideal in the months before an upcoming trip. Many women turn to lower abdominal liposuction as a way of restoring femininity to their bodies after birth and incorporate this surgery as part of their larger mommy makeover.

Chest and Back

For many men, the ideal physique is one with a broad, well-defined chest and back. However, age and diet can lead to pockets of fat developing in these areas, creating a flabbier, less toned appearance that can quickly derail your self-confidence. As more men have embraced the benefits of plastic surgery, more are turning to liposuction in these areas as a way of enhancing their gym results while looking natural.

Among women, liposuction of the back and chest are also quickly becoming incredibly popular options for removing unpleasant bra rolls that can appear beneath clothes. When liposuction is used on the chest, it can add greater definition and offers results like a breast lift.

Upper arms

Do you avoid wearing tank tops or lifting your arms more than necessary due to excess fat? If so, you are not alone. Using liposuction to improve definition of the upper arm is an increasingly popular treatment option among men and women. In addition to helping create greater tone in the arm, using liposuction in this part of the body allows individuals to reap the benefits of an arm lift without the impacts of major plastic surgery.

Legs, Thighs, Buttocks

Aside from the abdomen, the lower body is perhaps the most popular treatment area for liposuction. For many, fat collects at different parts of the thighs and around the buttocks. The inner thighs, outer thighs, the front of the thighs and area below the buttocks are popular areas that can all be recontoured with the help of liposuction.

Achieve your Dream Appearance

You don’t need major plastic surgery to achieve your dream figure. For many who are struggling with removing the last few lumps and bumps from their appearance after sticking to an effective workout routine, liposuction is an excellent, minimally invasive option adapted to your needs. At Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery, our experienced surgeons can create the personalized treatment strategy you need to achieve your dream appearance. Call today to get started!

 

No matter how strict your diet is or how intense your exercise regimen is, there still might be certain fat deposits that just won’t budge. Fortunately, liposuction can help get rid of those last bits of stubborn fat. Read our infographic below to find out why you should choose to undergo liposuction.

If you’re interested in liposuction, contact us today.

When it comes to removing undesirable fat deposits and reshaping your figure, you’ve undoubtedly heard of liposuction and its less invasive counterpart, CoolSculpting, as two of the most effective methods currently available.

Both liposuction and CoolSculpting share the same goal – to re-contour targeted areas of your body – but there are several key differences in the two approaches. So how do you decide which is right for you?

While CoolSculpting illustrates the growing popularity of non-surgical cosmetic procedures, liposuction offers a surgical approach to eliminating fatty tissue. This guide presents the “skinny” on both techniques to help you choose between them.

What Is Liposuction?

Despite maintaining a healthy lifestyle, many people find themselves struggling with fat accumulating on specific areas of their body. These circumstances are often due to hereditary or hormonal factors that are outside their control. That’s why liposuction remains one of the most popular plastic surgery procedures in the world.

Liposuction removes excess fat from specific areas of the body – including the abdomen, hips, buttocks, thighs, knees, upper arms, chin, cheeks, and neck – by vacuuming out fat cells through a small tube called a cannula. Provided you remain within your target body weight, the fat cells removed via liposuction are unlikely to return.

While liposuction can deliver somewhat more dramatic results than CoolSculpting, neither approach is a substitute for natural weight loss, or as a treatment for obesity. You should only undergo liposuction if your goal is to contour problem areas where you have been unsuccessful at losing the fat through diet and exercise.

How Liposuction Works

Since liposuction first became available in the 1980s, there have been many refinements and advancements to the techniques doctors use to perform the surgery, which have provided patients with better results and shorter recovery times.

• Fluid injection: In this method, doctors inject a solution made with saline, epinephrine, and lidocaine into the targeted area before beginning the fat removal process. This approach not only anesthetizes the area before the surgery and helps surgeons remove the fat with less difficulty, but it also minimizes blood loss and bruising.
• Ultrasound-assisted: Liposuction assisted with laser or ultrasound, liquefies the fat before the doctor removes it from your body.
• Tumescent: The word “tumescent” means “swollen.” With the tumescent approach, surgeons inject a large amount of local anesthetic fluid into the treatment areas, which causes them to appear swollen. The tumescent liposuction technique eliminates both the need for general anesthesia and need for IV narcotics and sedatives.
• Super-wet: This procedure takes a similar approach to the tumescent technique but uses about half the amount of fluid.

As with any surgical procedure, there are some potential complications associated with liposuction, which include bruising, swelling, numbness, infections, blood clots and irregular skin contouring. However, choosing to undergo liposuction under the care of an experienced, cosmetic surgeon will significantly minimize these risks.

Who Is A Good Candidate for Liposuction?

Ideal candidates for liposuction share these qualities:

• Have good skin tone and elasticity so that the skin can bounce back from the procedure.
• Are physically and mentally healthy.
• Do not smoke.
• Do not have health conditions such as diabetes or heart disease.
• Have realistic expectations for the surgery.

What Is CoolSculpting?

Though freezing off fat may sound like something out of a sci-fi novel, that’s precisely how CoolSculpting, also known as cryolipolysis, works. This FDA-approved procedure is based on a scientific principle that frozen fat cells get flushed out of your body through natural processes – without harming the skin or surrounding tissue.

CoolSculpting is best for people who are within their target body weight, but who want to remove stubborn pockets of body fat that resist diet and exercise. Most CoolSculpting patients choose to treat their abdomen, “love handles,” back, upper arms, or thighs.

How CoolSculpting Works

For many people, the best part of CoolSculpting is that the entire process is non-surgical and requires no restrictions on activity or diet. The treatment uses a controlled device to draw fatty tissue into an applicator cup between a pair of panels, which freeze fat cells until they crystallize.

Though you may feel a pulling, pinching, or tingling sensation as the applicator first goes to work, these feelings lessen within about 10 minutes as the treated area goes numb. Many people choose to read or even take a nap while undergoing a CoolSculpting session. Since there is no need for downtime after the procedure, you can return to work immediately, with none of your co-workers knowing how you spent your lunch break.

Compared with surgical procedures, which leave patients with stitches, bruising, and scars, CoolSculpting’s side effects are relatively minimal and include numbness, tenderness, redness, and swelling of the targeted area. You can manage any discomfort with over-the-counter pain medicine.

The results of CoolSculpting are not immediate but reveal themselves gradually over the course of several months. That’s why the procedure also appeals to people who prefer to keep their treatments private. We recommend two to three treatments, spaced four weeks apart.

Who Is A Good Candidate for CoolSculpting?

CoolSculpting is an excellent option for patients who:

• Are at a healthy body weight but wish to target small fat bulges.
• Do not want to undergo surgery or anesthesia.
• Want to avoid a lengthy recovery period.
• Are looking for a permanent solution to sculpt specific areas of their body.
• Need to seek a non-invasive treatment due to health concerns.

Book Your Confidential Consultation Today

If you are interested in getting liposuction or CoolSculpting in the Beverly Hills area, schedule a consultation with us to discuss your goals and expectations. Though both procedures have a long track record of being safe and effective, you are nonetheless choosing to make changes to your body that require you to weigh all the pros and cons. Our qualified, cosmetic surgeons can help you decide which option is best for you.