You’ve tried it all. The strict diets and restrictions, the countless hours sweating at the gym — and still, those unwanted, fatty problem areas just won’t budge. The way the body stores fat can be, in a word, unfair. Most men and women have at least one area of their body that they wish were more toned, slimmer, or smoother, but factors outside of their control such as their genetics and body type allow these pesky pockets of fat to endure.
Liposuction, also referred to simply as lipo surgery, is a method we use at South Bay Aesthetics Plastic Surgery to give our patients in Torrance, CA, more defined contours — improving the overall appearance of a patient’s figure. While liposuction is not a weight loss procedure, it is considered one of the safest and most effective treatments for eliminating localized concentrations of stubborn fat that cannot be shed through a healthy diet and exercise alone.
What Is Liposuction?
Liposuction is a cosmetic surgery we perform to remove excess fat from localized areas of the body, such as the stomach, hips, thighs, and arms. This technique can help sculpt the body by eliminating stubborn fat bulges that linger despite efforts to reduce fat. We use a suction device during the procedure to carefully extract fat from these areas.
What Are the Benefits of Liposuction?
- Improved Body Contour and Proportions: The liposuction procedure can enhance your body’s shape and balance. By removing excess fat, it streamlines your figure, aligning it more closely with your aesthetic goals.
- Removal of Stubborn Fat: A key advantage of the liposuction procedure is its ability to target and eliminate fat that is resistant to traditional weight loss methods. This targeted approach allows for precise shaping and fat removal from areas that are genetically predisposed to storing more fat.
- Minimal Scarring: With advances in the liposuction procedure, the techniques we employ are designed to be minimally invasive, resulting in very little scarring. Small, strategically placed incisions keep any scarring discreet.
- Long-Lasting Results: Liposuction offers benefits that, when paired with a stable weight and healthy lifestyle, can endure long term. The removal of fat cells is permanent, giving you a lasting change.
Frequently Asked Questions About Liposuction
Liposuction is most commonly used to treat stubborn fat deposits in the following areas:
- Abdomen: Stomach liposuction is a popular choice for reducing excess abdominal fat. This procedure can flatten and reshape the abdominal region, providing a more toned appearance.
- Chest: In cases where diet and exercise don’t fully address fatty tissue in the chest area, liposuction can be an effective solution, offering a firmer and more contoured chest.
- Hips: Liposuction on the hips helps create a more defined waistline and can dramatically improve body silhouette.
- Side flanks or “love handles”: This area is particularly prone to persistent fat deposits. Liposuction here can enhance the contour of the midsection, smoothing out the transition from the hips to the abdomen.
- Thighs: Thigh liposuction targets both the inner and outer thighs, which can help reduce chafing and improve the fit of clothing by balancing the proportions of the lower body.
- Buttocks: Liposuction can refine the buttocks’ shape by removing excess fat for a more lifted and proportionate appearance.
- Face: Facial liposuction, often in conjunction with other procedures, can address areas like the cheeks and jawline to refine features and reduce the appearance of puffiness.
- Neck: Neck liposuction can eliminate the appearance of a “double chin” and sculpt a more defined neck and jawline.
An important thing to understand about liposuction is that while it is consistently one of the most popular cosmetic procedures each year for fat removal and body contouring, it is not a weight loss procedure, nor is it recommended for addressing obesity. The candidates we usually choose for liposuction surgery are our Torrance patients who are enjoying good health in general and are already close to or at their ideal weight.
Liposuction surgery does not tighten your skin, remove cellulite, or drastically change the number on the scale, so ideal candidates should also have good skin tone and elasticity, as well as limited amounts of lax or excess skin. While our Torrance Liposuction Surgeon Dr. Verbin is an expert in the art of body contouring, in order to ensure the best possible results, it is also essential that you have realistic expectations of what this treatment can accomplish.
Liposuction can also be performed along with other cosmetic surgeries to further enhance your results. Our patients at South Bay Aesthetics who also wish to address sagging skin in addition to stubborn fat cells can pair liposuction with a tummy tuck, thigh lift, arm lift, breast augmentation, or breast reduction to tighten problem areas while removing excess fat.
There are many advanced techniques available today for facilitating liposuction, all of which work to significantly reduce the volume of fat in the area targeted for treatment. In traditional liposuction surgery, a thin, tube-like instrument known as a cannula is inserted into the treatment area through tiny incisions made by your surgeon. The cannula, which is also connected to a suction device, is moved back and forth to loosen and dislodge fat beneath the skin. The fat is then suctioned out of the body, revealing a more defined, sleeker figure.
At South Bay Aesthetics, Dr. Verbin utilizes a tumescent liposuction technique, which has been hailed by medical experts as the safest and most effective form of liposuction surgery due to its ability to reduce risks associated with the procedure and significantly shorten recovery time. Similar to traditional liposuction, the tumescent technique is different because it uses liquid to help facilitate the fat removal process.
This solution is composed of saline, a local anesthetic (lidocaine) to numb the affected areas, and epinephrine, which is a medication that helps to shrink blood vessels during the procedure. The fluid aids the liposuction process by causing the fat cells to swell, making them easier to isolate and remove. The constricted blood vessels help limit the amount of blood loss during the procedure and can significantly reduce any pain, bruising, and swelling that occurs after the procedure.
The length of your procedure, as well as the liposuction cost, will be determined by the size of the treatment area, as well as the number of areas you wish to address. Smaller areas take less time to treat and can often be completed in under an hour. More extensive treatments, such as larger areas or multiple areas on the body can take up to four hours or longer and will require more downtime for recovery.
Liposuction is a minimally invasive surgical procedure that is performed on an outpatient basis in our fully accredited outpatient surgical center located in Torrance, CA. Because Dr. Verbin utilizes the most advanced liposuction techniques, many patients find recovery time following the procedure can be surprisingly quick, with minimal discomfort. Most patients can comfortably return to work within a few days of the procedure and are usually able to get back to more strenuous activities in just a few weeks.
The length of your liposuction recovery time will vary depending on the extent of your procedure and the number of treatment areas being addressed. Dr. Verbin may require a compression garment to be worn for a few weeks following the surgery to minimize swelling and help the skin contract to its new shape.
Your full liposuction results will not be apparent immediately following the procedure, though you may see a bit of a difference in your body contour. Since the recovery process is gradual, you should expect to see the full results of your surgery over the course of several months. Over time, the swelling and bruising at the site of your treatments will decrease, and small incision scars will become less visible. After about six months, your final liposuction results will be apparent, and you’ll be able to fully enjoy your trimmer figure and more aesthetically pleasing body contour.
The results of liposuction can last a long time as long as you focus on maintenance and good lifestyle habits post-operation. While liposuction permanently removes the fat cells from your problem areas, this does not mean that you are finished with dieting and exercise forever. Keeping your weight as stable as possible is important to help keep the area free from excess fat. If you gain weight, the remaining fat cells may expand and reverse the effects of your surgery.
Get Rid of Stubborn Fat for Good With Liposuction in Torrance, CA
If your stubborn problem areas are standing in the way of achieving a more attractive, slimmer, and defined physique, liposuction surgery may be right for you. Contact South Bay Aesthetics Plastic Surgery at (310) 539-6500 today or fill out an online form to consult with our expert staff in Torrance, CA, and discover if liposuction is right for you.
