Liposuction: Does the Fat Come Back?
Many websites and plastic surgery information pieces tell you that after liposuction, weight won’t be gained again in the treated areas because liposuction removes the fat cells.
That may not be the whole story, according to Indiana plastic surgeon Barry Eppley, M.D., who writes the most excellent blog, Explore Plastic Surgery.
Says Dr. Eppley: “If your weight is stable, the results will be fairly long-term after liposuction.”
That means, if you want to protect your investment in liposuction, you should make permanent changes in your diet and exercise routines.
Yes, liposuction takes out fat cells but some are left behind. And if you shovel in the chow, those few cells will expand and become larger!
So a couch potato lifestyle combined with unmindful eating could undo your plastic surgeon’s good liposuction work.
It’s because some areas of the body – like the stomach and the flanks — are preferred fat storage areas, with men gaining the most in the stomach and women gaining in the buttocks and thighs.
Now, the question of weight gain after liposuction has actually been studied.
Writing in a 2006 issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, five M.D.s at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center asked 209 liposuction patients about the procedure’s long term effects.
Remember, patients must keep their weight stable and make permanent changes in eating and exercise styles.
The study did not say so, but our guess is that half took the doctors’ advice to heart. Here’s what the statistics revealed:
- Weight gain: 43 percent
- Weight gain in the treated area: 65 percent
- Gaining five to 10 pounds within six months of surgery: 56 percent
- Abdomen listed as place where weight returned: 80 percent
So did the respondents – even the ones who stayed on their couches and gained some weight — think they had wasted their time and money?
Not at all! The survey also revealed:
- Patients who were satisfied with their results: 80 percent
- Respondents saying their results were excellent or very good: 53 percent
- Percent who would recommend the procedure to others: 86
- Would have the procedure again: 79.7 percent
- Described their post-op discomfort as mild to moderate: 75 percent
- Discomfort lasting less than seven days: 60 percent
Given the results of that survey, plastic surgeons would do their patients an additional service to give liposuction patients information about diets and exercise plans at the start and suggest they choose one before going ahead with the procedure.
admin @ March 25, 2009
I had Liposelection (Smart Lipo) performed on an outpatient basis with minimal pain, and some bruising and swelling. Within 2 months my inner thighs were back to normal. However, there was no change in the “little extra” that I carried there. Occasional swelling occurs that is easily resolved with massage. Major swelling occurs with vigorous exercise – exercise that is focused toward tighten the inner thigh muscles.
It is not a procedure that I will have performed again. However, I am still on the look out for anything that will help with alleviating the cellulite on my thighs which is very embarassing to me.