FAQ liposuction, liposculpture, lipofilling

Q. Is liposuction a safe kind of surgery?
A. Thousands of such operations are performed successfully every year all over the world. When this operation is performed by a specialist in plastic surgery, experienced in body contouring, in qualified facilities and with the due anaesthesiologic assistance, the results are usually very good. However, it is essential not to make light of this operation and not to give in to the temptation to apply to non-specialists who perform low-cost surgery inside non-qualified facilities (health centres, consulting rooms, etc.) because it is anyhow a real surgical procedure whose complications (infection, haematomas) are rare but may occur and can be easily resolved only if the intervention is performed by a specialist in plastic surgery and within duly equipped facilities.

Q. Can liposuction be a substitute for diet?
A. No. Liposuction and liposculpture allow the removal of the localized depot fat that cannot be eliminated otherwise, but they don’t replace diet. However, the body contouring achieved through liposuction and liposculpture is often an incentive to take more care of one’s body and weight.

Q. Since I want to go for thigh liposuction, I would like to know if it is useful to follow a diet before the operation.
A. Normally, I advise my patients to undergo liposuction when they have reached a weight they think they can maintain. However, a balanced diet should be followed and physical exercise should be done even after surgery.

Q. How much weight can one lose through liposuction?
A. Liposuction is not a surgical operation useful for losing weight but for contouring the body and removing the depot fat which is localized in some specific areas of the body and which is not removable by dieting nor through physical exercise. Normally, no more than 3-4 litres of fat are sucked through liposuction or liposculpture.

Q. Is the cosmetic result achieved by liposuction definitive or is it possible that the rolls of fat previously removed will re-form after some time?
A. The result of liposuction and liposculpture may be considered as permanent, provided that you have the forethought to follow a balanced diet and to perform physical exercises regularly. Indeed, liposuction and liposculpture eliminate a certain amount of adipose cells (fat) once and for all, but if you tend to put on weight and don’t moderate your eating, the remaining adipose cells will end up spreading and creating the unsightly rolls of fat once again.

Q. What time of year is preferable to go for liposuction?
A. The liposuction operation may be performed all year round, but (this is true for all surgical operations) it is preferable to perform it in winter, in order to avoid the detrimental effects of photoexposure (scar pigmentation and excessive heat and oedema in the treated area).

Q. Is liposuction a painful kind of surgery?
A. No. Straight after the operation and for 2-3 days, you will feel a sensation of pain in the treated area, which varies depending on the individuals and on the extent of the operation. However, it is a tolerable pain that can be relieved by analgesics.

Q. I’ve heard that after liposuction it is necessary to wear a sheath. Is it true? And how long?
A. Straight after the operation you’ll have to wear a compressive sheath or 140 denier elastic stockings for at least one week. However, this garment is not troublesome at all and is useful for better compressing the treated tissues and for limiting puffiness. After removing the stitches, it is preferable to wear the sheath for 3-4 weeks more, depending on the amount of the fat removed and on the area in which the intervention was performed.

Q. What’s the difference between liposuction and liposculpture?
A. Liposuction allows the body to be sculpted by removing the undesired depot fat from specific areas such as the abdomen, the sides, the nates, the thighs, the knees, the upper limbs, the chin, the cheekbones and the neck.
Liposculpture derives from liposuction in that it makes use of microcannulas to "sculpt" very selected areas of the body.
Sometimes, liposuction and liposculpture can be performed in association with the lipofilling technique (also called lipostructure) which consists in taking small quantities of fat through a thin needle or a cannula and then to inject them into the areas presenting small depressions.

Q. I’m 39 and, despite the continue diets I follow, my calves, my knees and my ankles are still very large. I would like to know if liposuction can solve my problem or if there are other kinds of surgery or cosmetic medicine treatments capable of contouring the lower part of the leg.
A. Since the liposuction technique consists in sucking the depot fat found in some specific areas of the body (for example, the thighs, the nates, the knees, etc.), it is possible to achieve good results even through calf and knee liposuction, when there are all the indications for such a treatment. Nevertheless, if the size of the calves and the ankles is due to a particularly developed bone and muscle structure rather than to a localized depot fat, liposuction cannot make the improvements expected. Unluckily, there are no other kinds of plastic or cosmetic surgery to reduce the size of the calves and the ankles, even though a few Japanese surgeons have recently used botulinum toxin (Vistabex) to induce temporary atrophy on the calf muscles, indirectly reducing the size of the fascia.

Q. How long should we wait to resume work after liposuction?
A. In liposuction, the duration of the convalescence depends on the extent and the number of the treated areas, as well as on the amount of the sucked fat. Normally, starting from the third day, you will be able to resume your normal life, avoiding, nevertheless, any tiring activity. After 4 or 5 days, you will be able to resume work, provided that it is not too tiring and, starting from the third week, you will gradually resume all your normal activities, including the sports activity.

Q. I have poor circulation: can I go for liposuction anyway?
A. Liposuction and liposculpture can be usually performed also with patients with poor circulation. In this case, however, I always advice an arterial and venous Doppler test in order to exclude the presence of vascular diseases.

Q. What instructions are to be followed before liposuction surgery?
A. Just like for any kind of surgical operation, smokers should reduce the use of cigarettes before surgery, because smoking can increase the risk of complications and slow down the recovery. Moreover, it is advisable not no take NSAID-derived drugs - such as aspirin, aulin, moment, ibuprofen, etc. - which might induce bleeding.

Q. Is it necessary to have lymphatic drainage after liposuction?
A. After liposuction or liposculpture, undergoing lymphatic drainage can be useful - but not indispensable - to speed up the recovery and the puffiness reduction; however, it should be performed at the earliest two months after the operation.

Q. Can liposuction be performed in hospital or inside facilities operating within the National Health Service?
A. No. Liposuction cannot be performed within the NHS.

Q. I have the typical “orange peel” skin: can liposuction improve the texture of my skin?
A. No. Liposuction acts beneath the derma by removing the depot fat, but it is not able to smooth the skin nor to improve its quality.