Will Liposuction Of My Back Make Fat Accumulate Elsewhere?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I had liposuction on my stomach in 2009. I work out 3 to 4 times a week with a trainer. I actually look bigger than I did before the liposuction. I have gained fat in my back and my breasts went from 34B to a 36C. I look like an ogre. My question is would SmartLipo be an option for this excess fat on my back? Or will I face the same results (fat returning on another area of my body)? I am completely miserable. Thanks.

A: Based on your description of your liposuction experience, I am assuming that you had improvement from the procedure in 2009 and have gained weight subsequently in other areas of your body. When considering liposuction now, your concern would be that fat would just accumulate somewhere else again. Your concern is based on the fat redistribution theory that states removal of fat from one body area will merely cause other areas to get bigger. (fat homeostasis) While commonly believed, this theory has never been proven to exist on a wide scale basis although perhaps it may be true for a small number of people. Whether it exists in you or not I do not know, but let us assume for the sake of this conversation that it is true. Then fat removal from the back will cause it to accumulate elsewhere although there are not many other places that it can practically go.

That discussion aside, fat removal from the back is difficult with liposuction because it is a different kind of fat which is more fibrofatty and harder to to remove. (unlike the stomach area) Smartlipo, a fiberoptic laser method of fat emulsification prior to suction extraction, is a good technique for this fibrous back fat.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis,Indiana