Posts Tagged ‘abdominal liposuction’
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in lipodissolve or laser liposuction of the lower abdomen. I am having a breast reduction done next month. My question is when is the best time for me to have the lipo procedures performed, before surgery or after surgery? I was informed that the best time would be during the same time as my breast reduction surgery. However, my insurance is covering the breast reduction and it does not cover the liposuction. I am also unsure if the doctor performing my surgery performs the lipo procedures I am interested in receiving. I was hoping for a lipo procedure that was less invasive such as lipodissolve or laser lipo.
A: Let me clarify some misconceptions that you have about various ‘lipo’ procedures. Lipodissolve injections are only useful for very small fat collections, no more than the size of one’s hand. I suspect your lower abdominal issue is bigger than that in size. Laser liposuction (aka Smartlipo) is simply an advanced form of liposuction and is just as invasive, it is not a minimally invasive procedure. In short, there is no non-surgical way to get rid of your abdominal fat concerns that would be as effective as liposuction. You could try Exilis radiofrequency treatments which does have some fat reduction effects.
In reality, there would be no better time than doing abdominal liposuction with your breast reduction and this is a common combination of cosmetic procedures. Otherwise you will have to have liposuction done separately where the out of pocket expenses will be higher.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tags: abdominal liposuction, breast reduction, dr barry eppley, exilis, indianapolis
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Thursday, December 29th, 2011
Q: Dr. Eppley My problem is that I look pregnant even though I am not. I was very athletic until I went through three pregnancies and never had time to get back to exercise between them. My underlying stomach muscles feel tight and I can suck in my stomach but there still remains a pouch. If I wear tight clothes it hides it but otherwise it just sticks right out. I’ve had a c-section but I do not want a tummy tuck because of the scar. Would liposuction help reduce the size of this pouch? Thank you in advance as I would value your opinion.
A: If any form of a tummy tuck is not acceptable, the question then becomes how much of a difference liposuction can make. No plastic surgeon can say for sure without at least seeing some pictures of you. But knowing that you have had three pregnancies spaced fairly close together suggests that the quality of your skin may not be good. (poor elasticity) This is relevant in that as the fat is removed what will happen to your abdominal skin. If your pouch is less but your skin sags and hangs worse, you may not consider that a good aesthetic trade-off. Liposuction is always an option as an alternative to a tummy tuck, the question is whether it is a good one. Not all fat reductions necessarily make the body part better looking even though it may be smaller.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tags: abdominal liposuction, dr barry eppley, indianapolis
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Friday, August 12th, 2011
Q: Dr. Eppley, I came upon your case study thru google –Case Study: Secondary Liposuction After Tummy Tuck Surgery. I am 3 months post op for diastasis repair (to above button) and c-section scar revision . I did not have a full tummy tuck and no liposuction. The skin was pulled down at area of incision. I had a drain at upper abdomen below ribs for 5 days. There is persistent skin elevation there, like a bulge, delimiting the curvilinear path of the drain. Dr says it’s fibrosis and to massage area. I’ve done this daily and no change. I am now wondering if this is fat as you state in your case study. I am, and was, very thin, especially upper abdomen. The area is soft to touch and no fluid (ultrasound was done). It’s just so odd that it follows the path of the drain yet what you state in article makes a lot of sense. Any advice will be greatly appreciated as this is very disturbing for me to look at . Thanks!
A: If I understand what you had done…a muscle repair to a level above the umbilicus and some form of a mini-abdominoplasty. (c-section scar revision) The key in determining why this bulge exists has to do with the muscle repair and how the abdominal skin was elevated to do it. I suspect that the muscle repair was done through a ‘tunnel approach’ above the belly button given that a mini-abdminoplasty incision was used. This means a tunnel of abdominal skin and fat was raised above the belly button to perform the muscle repair rather than a wide undermining of the upper abdominal skin flap. When the muscle was sewn together, this creates a midline bunching or bulge because the side tissues remained attached to the muscle. As the muscle is brought in by suturing, so is the side tissues pushing them together in middle. The fact that a drain was temporarily there is coincidental not causatory. (I have never seen a drain cause a raised skin tract) In essence, this is an ‘excess‘ of abdominal skin and fat that has created the bulge. The best treatment would be for some small cannula liposuction to reduce the underlying fat thickness and the overlying bulge.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tags: abdominal bulge after tummy tuck, abdominal liposuction, dr barry eppley, indianapolis
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Sunday, June 5th, 2011
Q: What is the cost of tummy liposuction?
A: This seemingly simple question is actually more complex that it appears. When people request liposuction of their stomachs, and its associated fees, they often are under a false perception that this is what will work for them. About half of the patients that I see for tummy liposuction do not need or do not get that procedure. Many actually need a tummy tuck due to their excess and loose tummy skin. But assuming that liposuction of the stomach is the right procedure, there are other variables that will affect the time and cost of performing the procedure. Does the whole stomach need to be done or just the lower half? Does the flanks or muffin tops along the waistline need to be done in addition to the stomach to get a better overall result? All of these affects both the results and cost of the liposuction procedure. This makes for a cost range of between $4000 to $5500 depending upon how much work needs to be done.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tags: abdominal liposuction, dr barry eppley, indianapolis, tummy liposuction
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Friday, January 21st, 2011
Q: I am a 52 year old female that weighs 127 pounds. Several years ago I was down to 117 pounds and the lower belly pouch didn’t get much better. At that time I was exercising 4 days a week and doing everything I could to lose that belly. This seems to be a family trait as both my mom and her sisters had it. Do you think liposuction can remove this lower belly pouch?
A: There is no question, even without seeing most patients, that the description of a lower belly pouch signifies that they have some excess fat there. So the use of liposuction for abdominal fat reduction is going to be useful. Whether liposuction would be of benefit, therefore, is not really in question. The issue is how much lower abdominal skin do you have and what will happen to it when the lower belly is deflated so to speak. In other words, do you need some type of a tummy tuck with the liposuction? The aesthetic outcome of liposuction is predicated, partially, on how well the skin contracts down once there is less volume. If there are a lot of stretch marks and you can pinch more than an inch or two of skin, then it is likely than some skin removal (mini-tummy tuck) may be helpful also. If there is a question as to whether skin removal is really needed, you can always do the liposuction first and let that outcome make that decision for you. I would use Smartlipo (laser liposuction) for your abdominal liposuction as that has the best chance of shrinking down the skin you have the best.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis Indiana
Tags: abdominal liposuction, abdominal smartlipo, dr barry eppley, indianapolis, plastic surgery
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Sunday, December 26th, 2010
Q: I am considering liposuction of my stomach. I am not fat but just want to thin it out further than I can do on my own. What is the best liposuction method to avoid any uneven or irregular areas on my stomach area afterwards. Since I am thinner to begin with I think it is more likely on someone like me. Would Smartlipo be best?
A: While highly effective at removing abdominal fat, irregularities after abdominal liposuction are not rare. Since the outer contour of an abdominal liposuction result is a direct reflection of the evenness of fat removal underneath the skin, it is important to have as even removal of fat as possible. While many new technologies have emerged for performing liposuction, they have not necessarily resulted in a lower incidence of contour problems. This is because the technique for performing liposuction is more important than the device.
No matter what liposuction method is used, the tracks or tunnels that are made under the skin by different types of cannulas in the fat layer is ultimately important for the final contour. This has lead to the use of smaller cannulas for fat removal and this has definitely decreased irregularity problems. But small cannula size alone is not enough to guarantee no contour irregularities…and it is probably not the most important.
Superceding cannula size is the precision of the underlying tunnels that are made. This is the in and out pattern of the liposuction cannula that most people associate with the procedure. While this movement may look random, it is not. Rather it should be a deliberate and evenly distributed method of cross-tunneling.
Cross-tunneling, when possible, during liposuction is still one of the most important concepts in liposuction to avoid abdominal irregularities. By cutting tunnels in the fat from multiple directions in any given area, fat is removed in a more even fashion. This is especially important in the abdomen where the cross-tunneling method can be most effectively used.
In short, the operator and not the device is the most important consideration when performing liposuction and avoiding postoperative irregularities.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tags: abdominal liposuction, dr barry eppley, indianapolis, liposuction irregularities, plastic surgery
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Friday, October 15th, 2010
Q: I just had my second baby six months ago and I want to get my body fixed. I am almost back to my pre-baby weight, maybe just 4 or 6 pounds more than I was. It seems like I have a lot of grease accumulations especially in the tummy and thighs that I would like removed. But I would need to know more or less how much it would cost so I discuss it with my husband.
A: Recovering one’s body shape after pregnancies usually focuses on the abdomen and waistline areas. For some women, this is just a matter of resistant fat accumulations that can be relatively easily improved by liposuction alone. For most women, however, it is more than just a fat issue. It is skin that has been stretched out and is lax. Liposuction alone will not tighten this skin but merely deflate it. Some form of a tummy tuck, combined with liposuction, is often what is needed.
Whether it is liposuction, a tummy tuck, or some combination thereof is impossible to know without actually seeing you. Women are so different in how their bodies respond to pregnancy that any one of these options may be right for you. But to give you a price range based on pure liposuction alone up to a fully tummy tuck with liposuction is in the range of $4,500 to $8,000, all costs included. This may be a wide range but costs of such surgery are dependent on the extent and time required to do the procedure.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis Indiana
Tags: abdominal liposuction, dr barry eppley, indianapolis, plastic surgery, tummy tuck after pregnancy
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Saturday, August 21st, 2010
Q: I had breast reduction surgery last year and , while those results were great, my stomach area is now the problem. What is the best way to get rid of some (or a lot of!) stomach fat? I have read about Zerona. Is it better than liposuction or does it just depend on the person?
A: It is not uncommon after breast reduction that one notices that they now have ( or have had) a larger stomach than they knew. Since the breasts hung down on the stomach, the size of the stomach is usually obscured. After breast reduction, where the breasts are lifted and reduced, these ‘new’ stomach problem appears.
While fat reduction can be done both surgically (liposuction) and non-surgically (Zerona), the results and the process are not the same. Do not equate Zerona and liposuction as providing the same results. Liposuction is a much more effective and rapid way of eliminating unwanted fat, albeit with surgery. Zerona is best considered as a non-surgical step before one considers liposuction. In the right patient (5 to 20 lbs overweight), Zerona may provide enough of a result that liposuction may never be needed. In larger fat collections, liposuction may ultimately be needed.
Therefore, patient selection is critical when deciding what approach to take for abdominal fat reduction. For small to modest abdominal fat fullness, Zerona is probably worthwhile as enough of a result can usually be obtained without surgery. But if you have a large abdominal girth or any excess overhanging abdominal skin, some form of surgery will be more effective whether it is liposuction, a tummy tuck or some combination thereof.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Indianapolis, Indiana
Tags: abdominal liposuction, dr barry eppley, indianapolis, plastic surgery, zerona laser
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Sunday, May 16th, 2010
Q: Just wondering how common abdominal etching is amongst females. Most research online seems to be pointing to men only.
A: Abdominal etching is a plastic surgery procedure for the artificial creation of a ‘six-pack’ appearance. This is done through liposuction techniques by removing linear strips of subcutaneous fat to highlight where the muscular inscriptions would be. This creates indentations in the overlying skin which looks like muscular definition. It should only be considered in a fit individual whose has a limited fat thickness over the abdominal area. It not only works better in this type of patient but will also look more natural. I currently use a Smartlipo technique which has a 3mm wide probe and metal cover which creates nice thin tunnels with very small entrance incisions. The heat from the laser helps the skin contract down as well.
You are correct in that it is much more commonly requested and done in men. That undoubtably reflects our current cultural fashion standards where men are defined by their muscle mass and definition while women are better appreciated for their curves. (history also shows that this is true through the ages) In my Indianapolis plastic surgery practice for every 10 abdominal etchings I have done, nine are done in men. But I have done a few in women.
The surgical technique is the same in women and is actually a little easier to do with more consistent definition in my observation. This is likely due to the thinner subcutanous fat layer that exists in most athletic women.
Dr. Barry Eppley
Tags: abdominal etching, abdominal liposuction, dr barry eppley, indianapolis, plastic surgery
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