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Band Aid Liposuction

Your Top Liposuction Questions Answered

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woman-slim-bellyLiposuction is a plastic surgery that speaks to an extremely common frustration: unwanted fat. Many people look in the mirror and see select areas that they wish were slimmer, whether it’s their abdomen, “double chin,” thighs, upper arms, or other areas. To help you gain a better understanding of liposuction and whether it may be able to give you the body contours you prefer, I’m answering some of the most common questions I receive about liposuction as a double board-certified plastic surgeon.

After Liposuction, Will the Fat Return?

This is an important question, and the answer is that it depends on your lifestyle choices. You are generally born with a set number of fat cells and when you gain weight, you don’t develop new fat cells; your fat cells just get larger. Liposuction works by removing fat cells from a precise area. While those fat cells won’t return, you will still have some fat cells in the area, and those can get larger if you’re taking in excess calories. This means you can gain weight in the treated area, although you will typically gain weight more slowly in this area because there are fewer fat cells here than in other areas.

Will I Have Scars After Liposuction?

Every surgery leaves scarring, but fortunately, liposuction scars are very minimal. The incisions I use for liposuction are very small, so your scars will be small and usually difficult to see. Additionally, I do everything I can to place these very small incisions in the natural creases of your body which makes them even more difficult to spot. This is especially true for my minimally invasive Band Aid Liposuction, a procedure I perform in-office with gentle numbing rather than general anesthesia.

Can Liposuction Be Part of a Weight Loss Journey?

Liposuction can play a part in weight loss, but in a different way than most people think. Liposuction is not an “easier” way to lose weight. In fact, your weight will barely drop after liposuction. This surgery is designed not for removing a considerable amount of fat but for refining your curves and contours by addressing small, specific bulges of fat.

For this reason, liposuction is a popular choice for people who have lost weight through other means and reached their goal weight, but who have some stubborn areas remaining and want to enhance their results. It’s important to be at or near your goal weight before considering liposuction.

How Much Time Should I Take Off Work for Liposuction?

The good news is that liposuction tends to have a shorter recovery period than many other plastic surgeries. The bad news is that it’s not possible to know exactly how long your recovery will be. There are many factors that affect your healing period, such as the details of your procedure, your pre-surgery and post-surgery care, your health, and more. It will also depend on the work you do because you’ll be ready for desk work before you will be ready to do work that is more physically demanding. Most people will be able to return to desk work within one week of their liposuction surgery, but we will discuss your recovery in more detail during your pre-surgical consultation.

What Areas Can I Treat with Liposuction?

Liposuction is an incredibly versatile surgery that can be used for nearly any area of your body where you have unwanted fat. Some of the most common areas include the abdomen, upper arms, hips, back, “double chin,” and thighs, as well as the chest and flanks for men. For particularly small areas of excess fat, my minimally invasive Band Aid Liposuction may be an option.

If you’re considering liposuction, the first step is to schedule a liposuction consultation at my Atlanta office to discuss your specific needs and what you can expect. Call me, plastic surgeon Dr. John LeRoy, to schedule your consultation today. Follow me on Facebook for more cosmetic surgery tips and insights.

Am I a Good Candidate for Liposuction?

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Liposuction is a highly popular plastic surgery, and this doesn’t come as a surprise to most people. After all, one look at any movie, TV show, or magazine makes it clear that our society’s beauty standard emphasizes slimmer physiques.

While liposuction can be a fantastic way to help you achieve the shape you’ve been working toward for your body, it’s important to know if this surgery truly is the right choice. As a double board-certified plastic surgeon, I have spent decades helping patients achieve their cosmetic goals, and that includes determining the best way to treat each patient’s needs. To find out if you may be a candidate for liposuction, begin by asking yourself the questions below.

What Area Do You Want to Improve?

What part of your appearance do you most want to improve? Fortunately, liposuction is a versatile procedure that I can perform for nearly any area of the body, including the abdomen, thighs, upper arms, hips, “double chin” area above the neck, and more. However, it’s important to note that liposuction is designed to treat only one or a few smaller problem areas at a time. If you want to slim down your entire body, it’s best to lose weight first and use liposuction to fine-tune your results.

What Results Do You Expect?

Like any plastic surgery, liposuction has specific uses and limitations. This procedure exclusively removes excess fat. It does not tighten your skin, nor does it reduce cellulite.

Take time to truly examine the area you are considering for liposuction. How firm is your skin in the area? Is it the size of the area that you dislike, or is it actually the quality of the skin? If you want to tighten the skin, you may be a better candidate for a different procedure like an arm lift, for example, or a combination of liposuction and a skin-tightening procedure.

Are You Healthy?

Cosmetic surgery is low-risk when it is performed by an experienced board-certified plastic surgeon. Part of the reason for this is because well-trained surgeons know how to evaluate a patient’s health to look for factors that could increase your surgical risks. This includes medical conditions that could impair your healing after surgery. At your pre-surgical consultation, we’ll discuss your medical history to look for potential risk factors and you’ll receive a medical evaluation before your surgery as well.

Are You Prepared for Your Recovery?

Liposuction may be cosmetic, but it’s still a surgery, so it will require a recovery period. To be a candidate for liposuction, you need to be prepared to take time off work and to follow all of your post-surgical care instructions. It is particularly important that you can avoid tobacco or nicotine use for several weeks before and after your procedure. All of this and more will be discussed at your consultation and pre-surgery appointment.

Fortunately, though, your recovery may be shorter than you expect. Some liposuction candidates may also be candidates for my Band Aid Liposuction, a minimally invasive surgery that I perform in-office with gentle numbing rather than general anesthesia. While this procedure still achieves fantastic results, you’ll have about half the recovery time you would have from traditional liposuction.

What Are Your Future Cosmetic Goals?

Liposuction is designed to artfully contour your physique, much in the way that a sculptor precisely shapes a sculpture. If you gain or lose a significant amount of weight after your surgery, it will affect your results. This is why ideal candidates for liposuction have a stable weight that they plan to maintain in the long term.

While these questions can serve as helpful guides, the only way to know for certain whether you are a candidate for liposuction is to schedule a liposuction consultation. Call my Atlanta office today to schedule your consultation. Follow me as well on Facebook and Twitter for more cosmetic surgery tips and insights.

What Band Aid Liposuction Can and Cannot Do

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lady-measures-waistEven with a strict diet and exercise regime, it can be difficult to lose stubborn excess fat. If you have small pockets of fat you want to reduce, but don’t want to undergo a comprehensive liposuction procedure, Band Aid Liposuction may be a great solution. While this minimally-invasive procedure has a number of positives, there are a few things that this treatment is unable to do. To help you get a better understanding about what my signature Band Aid Liposuction treatment can and cannot do, I, Dr. John L. LeRoy, have provided a few insights that you should know about this procedure.

Band Aid Liposuction Can Treat Multiple Areas of the Body and Face
Whether you want to reduce fat from your double chin, your thighs or shape areas of the jowl, Band Aid Liposuction is fully equipped to provide treatment to multiple areas of the face and body. This procedure is designed to effectively eliminate excess fat from the abdomen, arms, hips, thighs, knees, jowls, behind the elbows and under the chin.

Band Aid Liposuction Cannot Replace Traditional Liposuction
At its core, Band Aid Liposuction is a “mini” version of liposuction that serves as a great alternative for patients with small pockets of excess fat who do not need to undergo a traditional liposuction surgery. Because of this, the best candidates for this treatment are those who are at a healthy weight, but want to reduce small, bothersome areas of excess fat from their face and body.

Band Aid Liposuction is not designed for patients who have more moderate or disproportionate amounts of excess fat. In addition to my Band Aid treatment, I also perform traditional liposuction procedures, so I can help you to evaluate your individualized needs and find the best body contouring option for you.

Band Aid Liposuction Can Be Performed In-Office
Similar to traditional liposuction methods, this procedure uses tiny micro cannulas to remove excess fat cells through small incisions in the treatment area. However, Band Aid Liposuction differs because it is performed in-office with gentle numbing instead of general anesthesia. Performing this body contouring treatment this way allows for little downtime and a quick recovery time. Immediately after the procedure, most patients are even able to drive themselves home.

Band Aid Liposuction Cannot Replace Diet and Exercise
At the end of day, liposuction is not a substitute for maintaining a consistent diet and exercise routine. Living a healthy lifestyle post-procedure is important because extreme weight loss or gain can alter your results.

If you are interested in learning more about Band Aid Liposuction or any of my other signature Band Aid or traditional cosmetic procedures, contact me, double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John L. LeRoy in Atlanta today. Additionally, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for more insights about my plastic and cosmetic surgery services.

Is Liposuction or Non-Surgical Fat Reduction Better for the Neck and Chin?

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If you are unsatisfied with the appearance of your neck and chin and are interested in removing the excess fat in that area, you might be considering either liposuction or non-surgical fat reduction as possible solutions. While these procedures are similar to each other, there are a number of differences that can help you determine which one is right for you. I, Dr. John L. LeRoy, have extensive experience with fat reduction and removal and want to share my recommendations with those considering treatment.

Since liposuction involves physically removing fat, I can treat whatever I can see. That means I can effectively remove the majority of the fat tissue in one session, which eliminates the need for multiple treatments. This procedure also isn’t as invasive as you might think. With my signature Band Aid Liposuction treatment, I can perform the procedure in-office using gentle numbing. After treatment, patients are typically able to recover quickly and can even drive themselves home if they choose not to have conscious sedation.

Non-surgical fat reduction is a bit different because it either warms or cools fat cells in order to remove them. That means that only about 30% of fat is removed per session. Additionally, this fat loss occurs overtime as the body naturally eliminates fat cells. This requires patients to return to the office for multiple treatments and also results in them waiting longer to notice their results.

Check out the video below to learn more about the ways liposuction and non-surgical fat reduction differ from one another.

Because the success of fat removal depends on the elasticity of your skin, I highly recommend scheduling a consultation to discuss the best course of action for your individual concerns. To schedule an appointment, contact me, double board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John L. LeRoy in Atlanta today. Also, follow me on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for more insights about my plastic and cosmetic surgical procedures.

Ask Dr. LeRoy: Are the Results of Liposuction Permanent?

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Excess fat is a problem that nearly all of us have to some extent. In fact, as of 2014, the CDC reported that more than 70% of US adults were overweight. Even people with a healthy weight are often unhappy with the way their body fat is distributed, appearing as “bulges” in specific areas. That’s why liposuction has long been among the most popular cosmetic surgeries in the country. But is it truly the permanent solution many people think it is? Or will the fat return?

Your Guide to Plastic Surgery after Dramatic Weight LossTo understand how to get liposuction results that last, you first need to understand how your body’s fat cells work. There are exceptions to every rule, but here’s a generalized explanation: you have a certain number of fat cells distributed throughout your body. When you gain or lose weight, your body stores fat by making these same fat cells larger or smaller—not by changing the number of fat cells. What liposuction does, on the other hand, is actually remove some fat cells from a specific “problem area” in order to modify your body’s contours.

Here’s where the question of “is it permanent?” comes in: the fat cells which were removed with liposuction will not grow back. So liposuction is “permanent” in the sense that these cells are gone. However, you will still have some remaining fat cells in the treatment area as well as throughout the rest of your body, and these cells can just as easily enlarge with weight gain as they did before your surgery. So while your post-liposuction shape is expected to be permanent, gaining weight can diminish your results.

The best way to maintain the best possible results from your liposuction is to keep a healthy diet and exercise routine. You should also keep in mind that liposuction isn’t for everyone. It’s ideal for people who don’t necessarily want to lose weight, but who just have one or a few areas of stubborn fat which haven’t responded to diet and exercise. For some patients with a particularly small area of fat to be removed, my Band Aid Liposuction is a minimally invasive option as well. If you want to lose weight, I would advise you to reach your weight loss goal first and then use liposuction to “fine tune” your new contours. It’s also important to note that liposuction solely focuses on fat removal and does not address lax or sagging skin, so if you want firmer skin along with a reduction in fat, a combination of liposuction and my Band Aid Tummy Tuck, Band Aid Arm Lift, or other skin-firming procedure may be the best way to achieve results you’ll be happy with in the long term.

Plastic surgery is a team effort between me—your board-certified plastic surgeon—and you, the patient. For the safest and most successful results, it’s important that we communicate candidly throughout the process; that I do my part to perform your procedure well; and that you do your part to help your body heal and to keep your results looking their best. If you’re ready to get started, schedule a consultation at my office. Or, for more plastic surgery tips and special offers, follow me, Dr. John L. LeRoy, on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

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