Liposuction is an operation by which excess fat is removed through suction. It can be done on the abdomen, thigh, buttocks, neck, and back areas to improve appearance. Fat can be removed from one part of the body and placed in another part of the body for body contouring. Women might want to re-contour their bodies after giving birth. If a person has lost a significant amount of weight, then the procedure can help remove the excess fat deposits that come with it. People who need to lose fat quickly because they are morbidly obese might also benefit from this surgery.
There are different techniques used in the liposuction procedure. These include tumescent, dry, wet, super wet, laser-assisted, and ultrasound-assisted techniques. The wet technique uses injections of saline into the area of interest, breaking up the fat cells and removing them by suction. This is usually done under local anesthetics. Laser-assisted and ultrasound-assisted techniques help the breakdown of the fat by laser or ultrasound energy before suctioning the fat. The suction of fat is done through a small cannula, or straw-like tube, which is introduced through small cuts in the skin and manipulated in the fat tissue to break down the fat tissue. Mechanical suction is applied to extract the fat tissue through the cannula.
There are many potential complications that can result. These complications can include pain, bruising, swelling, bleeding, infection, scarring, and unsatisfactory, irregular results. Allergic reactions to local anesthetics, fluid imbalance, hemorrhage, or injury to deeper tissues and organs can be serious. The complications can even occasionally be fatal. Therefore, it is very important to consider all of these before deciding on having a surgery that can be very invasive like liposuction. It can also take a long time to recover from the surgery and the recovery may be painful, so if you foresee yourself not being able to handle this, then maybe the procedure is not for you.
You should also make sure that you are doing it for the right reasons. These include cosmetic reasons and for people whose excess fat cannot be removed by diet or exercise or a combination of both. People should not use liposuction as a substitute for diet and exercise, nor should it be seen as a cure for obesity. It also should not be used to treat cellulite or to remove fat from the sides of the breasts because the breast is a common cancer site.