Are You a Good Liposuction Candidate?

    ORANGE COUNTY, CA, May 30, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- To be a good liposuction candidate, you need to be in good general health, have realistic expectations, and be only minimally overweight.

Liposuction is not meant to be a weight reduction procedure - for that you would need some type of bariatric surgery. It is meant to be a fine-tuning procedure after most of the extra weight is gone.

A certain amount of excess fat often remains in some body areas, resisting removal by diet and exercise. For many people, it remains in the lower body - the abdomen, hips, thighs, and buttocks. For some, it may remain in the upper back or upper arms.

If you have lost a lot of fat from the abdomen, you may have loose, sagging skin that has not shrunk down over your slimmer shape. Many liposuction surgeons will suggest a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) to correct that. It is a procedure that removes excess skin and some fat just beneath it, and sutures the skin together again so that it fits snugly over your abdomen. It can be done at the same time as your liposuction procedure.

Good General Health
For the purpose of liposuction, good general health means not having any significant medical conditions such as cardiac or respiratory problems. If you are diabetic, you might be a good candidate if it is well-controlled. Your liposuction surgeon would make that judgment call.

If you are a smoker, your surgeon would decide whether to go ahead. Tobacco constricts blood vessels and reduced blood circulation would hinder your recovery. If your smoking habit is not too severe and you are willing to stop smoking for some weeks before and after your liposuction procedure, you might be able to go ahead.

To be not just a good candidate but an excellent candidate, you would also need to be about age 40 or less. Young skin will shrink with no problem. But as we age, the skin loses its elasticity and when your unwanted fat is removed by liposuction, the skin will not necessarily shrink to fit. Your liposuction surgeon might address this issue surgically, removing excess skin. You can discuss this with your surgeon.

Realistic Expectations
In our youth-obsessed and celebrity-obsessed culture, some people turn to cosmetic surgery in hopes of looking like their pop idol, whether in movies, TV or music. That is not realistic. The most that any well-done cosmetic surgery can do for you is make you look like a more youthful or more shapely YOU. Liposuction is no exception to this.

Not Grossly Overweight
If you are obese, you must first do the work of shedding fat to within about 30 percent of your ideal weight. That can be something of a struggle, but sticking to a proven approach will give you success. It requires determination and self-control and you may surprise yourself in finding reserves of these qualities that you did not know you had.

If you are not much overweight but just want a better shape through removal of fat from specific areas, you probably have realistic expectations. There are some ways to do liposuction that focus on smaller body areas such as the jaw line, throat, or cheeks. SmartLipo is an example. It uses a laser to liquefy the fat and its incisions are extremely small. Ask your liposuction surgeon about the best way to do liposuction in your individual case.

If you are in the Orange County area in California, you could consult with Dr. Douglas Hendricks, who has extensive training and experience with liposuction and his website gives a lot of good information (www.hendricksmd.com)

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