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Welcome to Orange County's best information resource for plastic surgery and, in particular, liposuction surgery. Dr. Cruise, board certified plastic surgeon, Newport Beach, CA, has filled every inch of this site with the most comprehensive liposuction information available. Patient education is a priority. With this in mind, Dr. Cruise is adamant that the information be highly relevant and easy to understand.
To give you a brief overview, here are some of the important topics that will be discussed. This is in addition to the many liposuction before and after pictures available for your review.
Overview of Liposuction Surgery
Liposuction has
become one of the most sought after plastic surgery procedures. It effectively removes fat that cannot be lost by diet or
exercise. In addition, the fat cells that are removed are
gone forever. Most people have at least some areas of fat
on their bodies that just will not to go away no matter how
hard they diet and exercise. This is a common complaint. The fact is, both men and women have inherent fat areas
that do not seem to go away. In men, these areas tend to
be around the abdomen and the "love handles". In
women, fat accumulation tends to occur on the hips, flanks,
thighs, and, to a lesser extent, abdomen. The good news is, these are the areas
where liposuction works best.
Even though liposuction removes fat,
it is best performed on people who are not markedly overweight. The ideal candidates are the people who are within 30 to 40
pounds of their ideal body weight and have localized areas
of fat. Liposuction can, and often is, used to treat multiple
areas. It is not uncommon to do the abdomen, hips, flanks,
and thighs all at one time.
Liposuction works best on people who
have skin that is healthy and able to stretch back when the
fat is removed. People who have poor skin, which usually
includes the elderly, or have a lot of fat to be removed from
one area will not receive an outstanding result. They will
certainly benefit, but because their skin is incapable of
stretching back exactly where it should, it may not resume
the ideal contour of the body. In these cases, it is sometimes
necessary for some skin to be removed. This is often the
case when there is a significant amount of loose skin within
the abdomen. Often, liposuction alone is inadequate and an abdominoplasty might be necessary.
Other areas that can benefit from liposuction
include: the arms, breasts, calves, knees, and area under
the chin. These areas, however, do not respond quite as well
as those mentioned above. Liposuction, especially ultrasonic
liposuction, may help cellulite somewhat but do not expect
dramatic improvements as cellulite remains a difficult problem
to treat.
Liposuction is performed by first infiltrating
the desired fat to be removed with a special fluid. Then,
a small suction cannula is inserted through tiny incisions
to remove the fat.
Dr. Cruise has extensive experience with
liposuction and body contouring. Safety is the number one
concern. This is why he limits the amount of fat to be removed
to 5000cc's, which is the guideline recommended by the American
Board of Plastic Surgery. If more fat needs to be removed,
it can be done more safely as a second procedure. Removing
greater volume subjects the patient to risks that can not
be justified for a cosmetic procedure.
Many people wonder if the fat that is
removed during liposuction will return. The answer to this
is NO. Fat that is removed is gone forever. The fat is removed permanently because after adolescence, humans lose the ability to
make new fat cells. Obviously, the fat cells that remain
after liposuction can significantly expand, which means you can still gain weight if you were to eat unhealthy or not exercise. But, fat removal from
liposuction is a permanent solution to the areas operated
on. There is a problem, however, when a person who has had
liposuction in one area gains a significant amount of weight. This additional weight accumulates in the areas other than
where liposuction was performed. This can create contour
irregularities. This can be corrected by either weight reduction
or liposuction in those areas that have gained fat. |