Liposuction will remove fat, but cannot remove skin. Only surgery can remove skin. This means that if liposuction is used alone (without surgical excision of skin) much less fat can be removed than if liposuction is used alone.
At ShapeMed4u we use all the latest liposuction techniques including:
Many of our patients from Chicago and Northwest Indiana ask us about dry technique liposuction. When we use dry technique liposuction, it is primarily for harvesting a small volume of fat from a donor site for transplant to the face. For small volume liposculpture and transplantation to the face, the fat is directly liposuctioned by hand into a hand-held vacuumed syringe. In this way the sensitive fat cells that are being harvested are not damaged or exposed to any chemicals, preservatives, lasers, ultrasonic energy, etc. This technique is ideally suited for wrinkle treatments, cheek augmentation, lip augmentation and facial sculpting:
Liposculpture of the face is very cost-effective when compared to artificial fillers such as Juviderm or hyaluronic acid. Dry technique liposuction is an office-based procedure with immediate recovery. The patient can have this procedure performed during a lunch break.
Many of our Chicagoland patients require either wet technique liposuction or superwet technique liposuction. In these cases, a moderate amount of fluid is injected into the fat donor area for harvesting and transplantation. The fluid has special buffers to allow a larger volume to be harvested. In our practice, wet technique liposuction and Superwet technique liposuction are performed by hand-which is to say that liposuctioned fat is manually aspirated into a hand-held vacuum syringe. In this case the harvested fat is mixed with some fluid that was used during the harvesting procedure. This harvesting fluid is removed manually, before the fat cells are transferred. The wet and Superwet techniques are well adapted for fat transplantation of moderate to larger volume of fat such as in Brazilian buttock lift:
Tumescent liposuction is truly wet liposuction technique, that is ideally suited for large volume liposuction. Tumescent liposuction is the most popular liposuction technique will in Chicago and Northwest Indiana. Tumescent fluid is a modified saline solution which is buffered, and contains lidocaine to reduce discomfort. Tumescent liposuction can be performed on a wide awake patient with no additional anesthesia. Recovery is immediate. By adding a large amount of fluid to the fat, the viscosity of the fat is reduced and large amounts of fat can be removed. Up to 6 liters of fat can be removed in one treatment session . The removed fat is aspirated by a machine into collection canisters. Since the harvested fat is liposuctioned through a machine, it is traumatized and not ideally suited for fat transplantation. As mentioned above, tumescent liposuction can be performed in an awake patient. In fact the patient can be standing. However when a large volume of liposuction is required, we generally recommend sedation for optimal patient comfort.
Power assisted tumescent liposuction may also be used. In this case a reciprocating suction device , much like a power tool, is used amplify an accelerate the work of the surgeon, which can reduce the operative time. Power assisted tumescent liposuction can cause considerable bruising.
At ShapeMed4u we use ultrasonic liposuction when we want to vaporize or destroy the fat. Traditional ultrasonic energy projects accoustic energy longtitudinally, thereby destroying the “forward facing” fat. Another form of acoustic energy call Vaser (vibration amplification of sound energy) applies sound energy radially (not longtitudinally) which means that much less acoustic energy is needed, reducing the amount of trauma and contusion. At ShapeMed4u we use Vaser liposuction whenever a large amounts of fat that needs to be removed, such as in morbidly obese patients:
Laser lypolysis with or without liposuction uses a Yag laser to liquify fat. The laser also tightens loose collagen. A lower energy level laser liposuction machine, by Erchonia, uses a cold 635 nm laser source. At ShapeMed4u we find laser liposuction very useful in the treatment of sagging tissues such as the neck:
Case 1: Pregnancy will cause the abdomen and breasts to be flabby (see discussion of Mommy Makeover) but it will also cause fat to accumulate around the arms, thighs, love handles, flanks and back. The lady shown here is an example of this. She had tummy tuck and liposuction of the abdomen, flanks, love handles and thighs.
In this particular case, liposuction of the thighs (without surgical removal of extra skin) was possible.