During Perry Watson’s “Medical Update” on KLBJ News Radio, Austin plastic surgeon Dr. Jennifer Walden helps clear the air about the extremely popular cosmetic procedure liposuction.
Liposuction slims and reshapes specific areas of the body by removing excess fat deposits, improving your body contours and proportion, and ultimately, enhancing your self-image. Last year, nearly 205,000 liposuction procedures were performed in the United States, making it one of the most popular cosmetic procedures, second only to breast augmentation.
Dr. Walden said liposuction surgery is not a treatment for obesity, rather the procedure is for people who are at or near their ideal weight.
A new study from the August edition in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official journal of The American Society of Plastic Surgeons refutes last year’s study from the medical journal Obesity regarding what happens to your body after liposuction.
Dr. Walden said there has been on-going legend and folklore that after liposuction, fat returns in odd distributions to other areas of the body remote from the area suctioned.
The new study confirms that a person can have weight gain or contour abnormalities after liposuction, but it can and sometimes will only go to areas that have undergone liposuction, not to lipo-free areas like your arms, neck or face. She notes that although liposuction permanently removes fat cells, it is not a replacement for regular exercise and good eating habits.
