Liposuction Love Handles & More

Curvy, flat or sculpted? Your wish is our command with liposuction...

One of the most common cosmetic procedures, liposuction is straight-forward but there are nuances to a great result, including skin healing, visceral fat, garments and lymphatic massage. Read on to learn more.

If you want to see if you are a good candidate for liposuction, book a consultation at Pulsar Health.

At Pulsar Health, we are all about beauty based on health. Liposuction is not for those looking for weight loss - check out our Eternal Vitality Weight Optimization program for that. Liposuction is for reshaping. It is for those stubborn love handles that hang around no matter how much weight you lose. It is for that frustrating chin fat or bulky thighs. Let's explore the world of lipo with some questions and answers:

Q: How does liposuction work?

A: Liposuction uses small tubes called cannulas to suction out fat from under the skin after numbing medicine is placed under the skin. After surgery, there is a healing period where snug garments are worn which help with creating the shape you are going for. Liposuction is principally for contouring. 

Q: What is the heaviest you can be to have liposuction?

A: Liposuction can be used in clients who have a high body mass index (BMI), especially if it will inspire them to continue on their weight loss journey and protect their investment. When considering if you are a candidate for liposuction, it is important to see if the fat to be removed is outside your muscles or inside. Fat on the inside is called "visceral fat" and cannot be removed by liposuction. Fat on the outside of your muscles is the target fat for liposuction. For general anesthesia, the highest body mass index (BMI) many people consider safe is 35 to reduce the risk of complications. Most of the liposuction procedures we do at Pulsar Health are done "awake", without general anesthesia, and are very well tolerated as we have tweaked the process repeatedly to make it as comfortable and safe as possible. We operate on clients with a BMI of up to 44 for liposuction, but legally can only remove a maximum volume of fat at one surgery - up to 4 liters of fat in Florida or 5 liters in California for example. Sometimes we also may be limited in the number of areas we can treat in one surgery by the amount of numbing medicine, as there is a maximum safe amount of numbing medicine that we can use at one time. 

Q: Will I have loose skin after liposuction?

A: The quality and the elasticity of the skin is crucially important for the final result. Depending on your skin elasticity, skin usually contracts down after liposuction, on average about 10 to 20%. However, if a lot of fat is removed and the skin is not as elastic as we want, you may need additional skin tightening or skin removal procedures to help you get the result you are looking for. Renuvion J-plasma is FDA approved for tissue contracture immediately following liposuction, and has been shown to help improve skin tightness to an average contracture of 40 to 60%. See the section on "Loose Crepey Skin Tightening" for more information on Renuvion J-plasma and other skin tightening technologies. If you have hanging skin (see the section on " Flabby Hanging Skin: Tummy Tucks & more"), then you may need excision of that skin to get a great result. 

Q: How important is using the garment after liposuction?

A: Surgery is only one part of the journey - a great deal of the results from liposuction come from how you heal, including using the garment and how you look after yourself including nutrition. Use of the garment after surgery and various aids make a huge difference to your final result.

Following liposuction, you will be left with a small layer of fat and fibrous "scaffolding" under your skin as well as some fluid early on - which is what lymphatic drainage treats. The "scaffolding" is thinner on the front of your body and slightly thicker on the back of your body, as it holds the skin to the lining of your muscles. The garments help compress the skin, scaffolding and fluid, aiding in getting the fluid absorbed and in squeezing the rest down for a tighter, more "snatched" look. 

Q: What are Stage One and Two garments, and what do the "boards" do?

Initially you use a Stage One garment which is more elastic to help compress the swelling from surgery, and many clients find it helpful to eat pineapple daily to help reduce swelling for the first few days (or take bromelain or arnica pills, which are pineapple extract). At about a week, you can move onto a Stage Two garment, which is firmer and can be used for more shaping. Custom garments are the ultimate in creating the look you want. 

In addition, front boards and other shaping boards help you keep your torso in the correct shape - bending in the initial few weeks can create a crease in the final results so persistent bending in any one position, like being bent forward whilst driving, must be avoided. Be sure to position your skin in the right place inside garments so that it heals as flat as possible, instead of hanging in folds. Side boards can help you get a more curvaceous final result by pressing the skin in more here.

Q: Is lymphatic drainage helpful?

A: Some people are helped by lymphatic drainage after liposuction. Lymphatic drainage is a very light massage that can be done via a traditional massage therapist or using a machine such as the Hydrafacial machine with its suction cups. The fluid under the skin is encouraged to move out of the tissues and back into the circulation. We do not recommend this immediately (except in lipo-sculpting) but after a couple of days when you are less "fragile" or likely to bleed/feel discomfort. It can help you heal more evenly for a smoother result, but it does not replace using garments or watching what you eat.

Q: What is liposculpture?

A: Liposculpture is done to create a more muscular appearance to the final look. It requires leaving a little more fat on the torso in order to carve grooves into the fat. Men and women have different shapes obviously, so the sculpting emphasizes those differences and should not be the same shape for men and women. 

For the liposculpting result to look good, the skin has to contract down well. External devices may be placed outside the skin under your garment to help with this, and seeing a specialist lymphatic drainage massage therapist is important. 

For many people, lipo-sculpting does not look that great long term if their skin gets slack, or they put on weight, so bear that in mind when deciding whether to have it done versus traditional liposuction. We have revised liposculpting done elsewhere, but sometimes it is so scarred down that it cannot be reversed without putting fat into the deep grooves, which can be challenging and require repeated procedures to get to a smooth natural look.

When you come in for a consultation, we'll look at your areas of concern and your skin quality. Pricing is done according to the number of areas and your BMI (body mass index) as it takes more work to do liposuction on larger and/or more areas. Most procedures can be done awake. Before you have your fat removed, make sure you don't want fat grafting to somewhere else such as your face, backs of your hands, your breasts or your buttocks, as once gone, the fat remains gone. You can grow your fat cells bigger "inside" your muscles (visceral fat), but this is not conveniently accessible and the fat cells that are removed from liposuction are permanently gone. Also make sure your schedule is able to accommodate the healing portion of the journey to the body you want. (See the section on "Buttock Enhancement" for more details.)