All too often, people find themselves trapped within the unglamorous vicious cycle of horizontal growth.
From the notorious beer belly for men to thunder thighs for ladies, people continue to be plagued by the psychological and physical effects of fat growth in very visible areas, especially in our increasingly fast paced world of today where work and fast food have replaced exercise and healthy diets.
Liposuction is the most popular aesthetic surgical procedure that helps to shape the body by removing fat deposits located between the skin and muscles from specific areas -- the most common being the abdomen, buttocks, thighs and knees, chin, upper arms and calves.
The concept is amazingly simple: A stainless steel tube, called a cannula, is connected to a high-pressure suction pump (vacuum) and is inserted under the skin. The suction breaks up and "sucks" fat out of the body, hence resulting in an improved body silhouette.
It's almost like a dream come true; minus the fact that it takes about a week or two before the bruising and swelling subsides.
Most patients are able to return to work within two weeks and in some cases as early as four days. But unfortunately, in some cases, patients may develop unevenness or lumps after undergoing liposuction.
The good news is that this surgical procedure has benefited from numerous new refinements during the past decade and currently, a number of innovative techniques are helping cosmetic surgeons provide patients with customized treatments that suit their needs.
"The conventional technique of liposuction is a surgical procedure used to vacuum fat cells and cannot be used where there is cellulite," says Kevin Chan, a surgeon from Flinders Practice Aesthetics Medical Center.
"In addition to the down time, bruising, scarring, lumpiness and uneven contours, it may also cause loose skin and takes a longer time to see results.
"On the other hand, the Advance Matrix Liposuction uses a combination of pre-treatment and post-treatment procedures like mesotherapy, radio frequency treatment, ultrasound and laser lipolysis treatment, which offer precise results and quicker recovery time," Chan says.
Mesotherapy, a non-invasive procedure developed by French physician Dr Michel Pistor in 1952, is where medication (made up of pharmaceutical, homeopathic medications, plant extracts, vitamins and other ingredients) is delivered via a series of injections or "matrix pricking" just under the skin to help remove fat from fat cells.
In addition to promoting weight loss, mesotherapy also provides anti-aging benefits, which improves skin tone and decreases wrinkles.
"Once the fats soften through mesotherapy treatment, we use the laser lipolysis treatment to remove the excess fat deposits that are normally resistant to physical exercise and dieting.
"To put it simply -- it's like grazing a hot knife over butter! Using these combinations of pre- and post- treatments, patients will experience less scarring, less blood loss, improved skin appearance ... and it reduces any traumatic experience that they might experience through conventional liposuction procedures", Chan adds.
Liposuction is definitely not a substitute for regular exercise and a good diet but, for most people who have inherited excessive accretion of fats that are resistant to traditional weight-loss methods, liposuction is the only realistic option for an improved body contour.
Effectively, liposuction is equivalent to being able to focus the result of dieting to specific areas of the body. As fantastic as it may sound, liposuction is not for everyone. Before opting for such a procedure, patients must have realistic expectations about what it can do for them.
While it is able to enhance your appearance and boost self-confidence, it won't necessarily change your looks or the way you feel about yourself.
"It is important for me to understand the *biopsychosocio' state of my patients before performing any aesthetic procedures," Chan says.
"The patient has to be psychologically stable, physically healthy and realistic with their expectations. In some cases, I've turned away patients who resorted to aesthetic procedure for the wrong reasons.
"The most suitable candidates for liposuction are people with a normal weight, firm and elastic skin but with excess fat in certain areas. While age is not a major issue, older patients tend to have skin that is less elastic, hence the result will not be as good in comparison to younger patients with tighter skin," Chan says.
Patients suffering from diabetes, poor blood circulation, serious heart or lung disease and those who have recently had surgery near the area to be sculpted are at greater risk of complications and should think twice before opting for such a procedure.
"We do a pre-op workout for the patient ... measure and weigh them so that they can *see' the before and after effect once the procedure's been done.
"The procedure can take between an hour or so, but it all depends on how big the area that needs to be treated is. On average, it'll take about 5 years before patients need to *service' troubled areas."
With realistic expectations, Chan says, patients are usually very satisfied with the outcome of their surgery.
The success of a liposuction procedure is about removing inches rather than weight, Chan adds.
Fat cells that have been sucked out do not grow back; as long as patients do not put on excessive weight, the pleasing silhouette is permanent.
(c) FlyFreeForHealth2008
Articles in this column, which will appear every two weeks, are provided by a panel of health professionals from www.flyfreeforhealth.com, a leading multimedia medical tourism platform dedicated to providing travel and lifestyle incentives for those adopting a healthy lifestyle. Email us at info@flyfreeforhealth.com.
