Liposuction (Liposculpture or Lipoplasty) in San Diego

Liposuction is a very common, popular procedure. It is designed for the permanent removal of fatty tissue. It is an elective procedure that allows the cosmetic surgeon to remove undesirable, subcutaneous fat in isolated areas that do not respond to diet and exercise. These areas may include the hips, buttocks, flanks, thighs, arms, abdomen, knees, ankles, face and neck (among others).

Liposuction is most successful in people with good skin tone who have fatty deposits. It is not a treatment for obesity. If weight gain occurs following liposuction, the fat will be tend to be deposited in areas that have not been treated. The procedure can be repeated, if necessary. To maintain the safety of the procedure, there is a limit on how much can be done at one time.

A variety of factors can affect the results: Physical condition, genetic makeup, diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol intake, skin elasticity, and age.





Body contours made irregular by fat can be improved by this procedure; it cannot correct contours that are irregular for other reasons, such as muscle weakness or hernia. However, combined with other procedures, liposuction may correct these other deformities with good results.

There are new techniques available to harvest Adult Stem Cells at the time of your liposuction. These can be banked for a patient's potential therapeutic use in future years. Please discuss this option with your doctor if it is of interest to you.

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Liposuction Procedure

Liposuction is done under general anesthesia on an outpatient basis in a hospital or surgical center. The surgeon makes small (less than 1/2 inch), discrete incisions in the areas to be treated. A cannula is inserted in a small incision and attached to a suction machine. The procedure may take 1-4 hours, depending on how many areas are treated. Drain tubes may be used

Liposuction Recovery

Recovery from liposuction is normally relatively easy. Expect a fair amount of swelling and bruising in the following weeks. You will wear special garments, provided to apply pressure, minimize swelling and provide support while healing. These garments also assist in retraction of the skin. Stitches will be removed in a week to 10 days.

Results are recognizable almost immediately and will continue to improve as swelling subsides. The day of or the day after surgery you should be up and walking around. Increase your activity daily until full activity is resumed as instructed. Avoid the sun until all bruising has subsided. A sunscreen should be used routinely; it is easy to get sunburned during recovery because of decreased sensation.

The results of liposuction are not permanent. If you were to gain a large amount of weight, you might note rippling in the treated areas, depending on your skin elasticity.

Following liposuction, the scars will go through a maturation process-during the first 8-12 weeks they may be red and possibly raised. The scars will mature over 6-12 months and become pale, flat and soft. You may experience numbness, burning, and tingling around the incision site. These symptoms are almost always temporary.

Please let us know if you are prone to keloid scars.

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Liposuction Post-Op Information

1. After surgery, you will be placed in a postop surgical garment. This will be padded with foam pads, in order to give uniform pressure. The garments help the swelling go down faster and encourage better, smoother healing.

Please do not remove this garment until we so instruct you. If drains are in place, you will be asked to call our office each weekday morning and tell us your drainage totals. We remove drains based on the color and amount of drainage over the past 24 hours. It is very difficult to pull the drain out accidentally. It may be slightly uncomfortable, and, if you are experiencing pain, let us know. Hopefully, we can relieve your pain with just a phone call.

It is common to have some oozing around the drain site, of a light pinkish or reddish color. If there is more than a small amount of oozing, please call us during office hours to report this.

The drains are in place so that your body does not have to absorb as much fluid that might otherwise collect under the skin. They reduce the risk of wound-healing problems and reduce bruising.

2. After your drain is removed, you may shower. We will give you instructions regarding wound care. After showering, you should leave the Steri-Strips in place, which may have been placed over the small incisions in your liposuction areas.

After you take off your girdle, we will either give you a replacement garment or girdle, or you may use bike shorts or Capri-length exercise garments. We will speak with you regarding this at the time we change your dressings or pull your drains. You will be asked to wear some form of a compression garment for a period of weeks after surgery. Four weeks is the minimum.

You will be prescribed postoperative pain medication, to be used for the first several days after surgery. Please be aware that the common side effects of any narcotic pain medication are nausea, vomiting, constipation, and itching. Should these occur, stop the pain medication and take Tylenol. You may want to try alternating the narcotic pain medication with plain Tylenol. A stool softener or laxative can be helpful for constipation, should this occur. Take whatever you have taken in the past, or consult your pharmacist. Milk of magnesia has worked well as an over-the-counter product.

You may expect bruising and swelling for a period of weeks after surgery. Gravity usually causes the swelling to migrate down towards your legs. Sometimes even the feet and ankles may swell, for the first several weeks. It is common to have swelling in the suprapubic region and in the perineum.

3. There may be firm areas and some indentations in the skin for the first few weeks after surgery. This will slowly improve with time. Most patients look fairly good at about six weeks. However, your final result, as far as the amount of postop swelling that you have, will not be visible until you are 6-12 months out from the surgery. The firm areas may persist off and on for several weeks, or even months. Massaging the areas can sometimes help decrease the firmness.