Abdomen & Love Handles

The abdomen and love handles (hips) are the most common liposuction area requested by our patients. If you want to have the most dramatic change in your body, the abdomen and love handles is our recommended area to be done first. This is because this area of the body has the easiest recovery, most dramatic and pleasing aesthetic appearance, and it is a relatively safe area.

The abdominal fat has two different levels of fat, a superficial and deep layer. Superficial abdominal fat is located just below the skin and above the abdominal muscles, whereas the deep abdominal fat is located inside the abdominal peritoneal cavity where the intestines are located. Liposuction does not go into this area of the body. Fat on the intestines is only decreased by diet, weight loss, and exercise.

The great news is the more superficial layer of fat can be removed by laser-assisted liposuction. Female patients have softer and less fibrous fat than men, and therefore liposuction on a woman is easier to perform. The final cosmetic or surgical goal is to produce an aesthetic improvement and a natural flat abdomen. Excessive fat removal from the abdomen to obtain a “six pack” appearance requires additional surgical intervention under general anesthesia.

FACTS

Pregnancies stretch the abdominal muscles and cause the lower abdomen to bulge. This curvature of the abdominal wall muscles influences the flatness or the shape of the abdominal wall silhouette after liposuction. Nevertheless, the vast majority of women with an excessive abdominal wall who have been pregnant are ultimately happy with results obtained by laser-assisted liposuction using Smartlipo™.

The incision in the lower abdomen typically made for Cesarean sections or a hysterectomy is an undesirable consequence of a Pfannenstiel incision. The good news is this fat bulge of subcutaneous fat can be repaired by liposuction.

POST-OPERATIVE CARE

The day after surgery, our patients can expect blood-tinged anesthetic fluid come from the open incision or adits. This is an expected event and we encouraged our patients to express fluid left remaining from the surgery out from the openings. You will be given super absorbent HK pads to absorb this fluid. The open-drainage technique, which reduces swelling and soreness requires the use of these super-absorbent HK pads to absorb the drainage. Special garments will be given to hold the pads in place. You may shower during this immediate post operative time period.

Over the next several days the inflammatory healing process begins and you can expect a gradual onset of swelling, lumpiness, and firmness over the surgical site for one (1) to three (3) months. After this time period the swelling will reduce and you will appreciate each week the skin tightening effect of Smartlipo™. There is no restriction on postoperative physical activity. Patients are advised not to remain in bed, but rather to walk about inside their home or leave their home for a short walk on the evening of the surgery. The patient is expected to shower at least once or twice daily beginning the morning after the day of surgery.

It is important to recognize that immediately after surgery you will notice a reduction in your abdomen and hips. But we observe the maximal skin tightening and loss of fat after four (4) to six (6) months. During this time period we encourage to be patient and to be involved in a routine diet, weight loss, and exercise program.

SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS

During your preoperative examination if an abdominal wall hernia (muscle separation) is found, this would present a problem because of the increased risk of accidental perforation into the abdominal cavity by the liposuction microcannula. If such a hernia exists it must be repaired prior to any liposuction procedure.

A history of previous liposuction increases the concern of the surgeon because of scaring or fibrosis is a result of healing from the previous liposuction surgery. A previous liposuction is not a contraindication to a second procedure, but it just requires the surgeon to be extra cautious because of fibrosis. Using Smartlipo™ is the best liposuction technique in those patients who are unhappy with their original traditional liposuction and who want more skin tightening and smooth skin texture.

If you decide to have your liposuction surgery done by another office and surgeon, then we don’t recommend having multiple procedures in a single operation sitting. We believe abdominal liposuction combined with other surgical procedures increases the risk of surgical complications, exposure to general anesthesia, and more pain medications. Multiple procedures also require more bed rest that increases the risk of Pulmonary Embolus-blood clots in the lung. Such complications are extremely rare when liposuction is performed totally by awake local tumescence anesthesia.

OC SmartLipo© does not combine liposuction with other procedures and we rarely do more than two (2) body areas per surgical session. The reason for this is quite simple. When compared to traditional liposuction under general anesthesia, we don’t experience the types of complications when our patients use awake local tumescence anesthesia.

SIDE EFFECTS, COMPLICATIONS, AND ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES

As with any surgery, a surgeon or patient can’t predict what may happen during or after surgery. Rare problems that can occur are insertion site scarring, keloids, post inflammatory hyperpigmentation of insertion scars, nodularity, skin irregularities, waviness of skin, localized tenderness, hyperesthesia, poor skin retraction, hematomas, seromas, and localized and systemic infection. Special precautions must be taken by the liposuction surgeon to avoid entering the lung and abdomen/peritoneum during suctioning and removal of the fat. Smartlipo™ is a great technology to melt the fat cells while simultaneously reducing the complication rate.

 

 

 

 

 

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