Abdominal Etching

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am having abdominal etching liposuction next week. How defined do you think you can get for me as well as removing my love handles? I know this guy is 28 and I’m 52 but I really want to get some definition with the abdominal etching. 

A: I believe your answer comes from what you have stated after your initial question. Your observation that the model is 28 while you are age 52 speaks volumes in terms of result expectations….that is not an achievable goal. Three factors come into play in any type of body contouring that will define the result…1) How toned and defined are the underlying muscles, 2) how thick is the fat layer between the muscle and the outer skin and, of equal if not greater importance, 3) how much elasticity of the skin exists to shrink down around the reduced fat areas. The older one gets the loss of skin elasticity plays a major limiting factor. I have seen goal pictures like the one you have provided many times and I have yet to see any patient get that type of abdominal etching result no matter how much fat is removed.

In short I think we should temper our expectations to an abdominal result that has some definition but never as defined as we would like.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana