Liposuction is meant
only for localized fat. It is not a method for general weight reduction. A
very important factor in predicting the likely result is the elasticity of
the skin. Younger people have much better skin elasticity, so their skin is
better able to contract after liposuction and form a smooth, even surface.
Older people with poor skin elasticity may be suitable candidates for liposuction,
but there is a greater risk that the small dents and wrinkles in the skin
will still be there even after the most careful treatment. The circumstances
can be compared to losing a large amount of weight ā€“ the skin of younger people
contracts and smoothens out, but the skin of older people tends to crease
or wrinkle. Under these circumstances, only small amounts of fat can be removed
without making the surface of the skin even more uneven. More can be removed
if the patient is prepared to accept some unevenness.
If there is surplus skin in the area, the liposuction will not remove it.
The only way to get rid of surplus skin is to cut it away.
The skin is much less elastic on some areas of the body than on others. On
the upper arms, for example, liposuction can be used only on young patients
without having to stretch away the surplus skin. The skin of older people,
and people who have lost a lot of weight, is often too stretched to regain
its shape after liposuction. With a stomach stretched by pregnancy, for example,
a good result may require not only liposuction but also a stomach tuck.
In the past decades plastic surgeons have begun to use a new type of liposuction,
superficial liposuction, which is done with thinner needles (cannulas) in
the outer area of the fat layer. The method has been claimed to produce better
contraction of the skin, which means that even older patients whose skin has
lost most of its elasticity can have liposuction without making the skin more
uneven. The technique is popularly referred to as liposculpture, but it is
nothing more than conventional liposuction with thin needles. The method is
now used by most surgeons who do liposuction. The trend
is to use thinner cannulas when removing both superficial and deep layers
of fat. The term aliposculptureā€¯ thus refers to minor modifications of an
already established technique.
A minor liposuction
operation on the cheek above the nasolabial crease. This procedure is fairly
uncommon, as the normal problem here is not fat excess but sagging of the
mid-face skin and fat pad. The most appropriate remedy would usally be a mid-face
lift.
