Liposuction

First things first, liposuction is a form of cosmetic surgery that aids in the removal of fat from various parts of the body. These areas include the thighs, abdomen, buttocks, back of arms, neck, among others.

Contrary to popular belief, liposuction is not an alternative to diet and exercise. It is actually a body contouring technique with some significant risks and is definitely not a way to lose weight. Any fat removed from a liposuction procedure varies for each doctor, patient and method. Generally however, fat lost is about ten pounds.

There are various factors which may limit the quantity of fat that could be removed safely from a liposuction treatment. However, it is the physician as well as the patient who will make the final decision. It is important to remember that there are negative effects from removing too much body fat.

Patients who have been over-suctioned may experience certain lumpy parts or dents in their skin. The more body fat removed, the higher the risk for a patient. While there may be reports where people had fifty pounds of fat removed from their body, these are exaggerations. Liposuction gives the impression that there was a great amount of weight lost than there was more fat removed.

Liposuction procedure could be performed under anesthesia - either local or general. The safety of liposuction depends in part on the quantity of tissue that was removed as well as the anesthesia chosen by the practitioner.

It is best that the patient undergoing liposuction is healthy and fit. It is important that the patient has not smoked for months before the cosmetic procedure.

Believe it or not, liposuction has been done since the 1920's. However, it suffered a bad rap when a French model suffered gangrene under the hands of Charles Dujarier - a French surgeon.

It was only in 1982 when liposuction became popular thanks to Dr Yves-Gerard Illouz, a French surgeon who featured a suction-assisted technique after injecting fluid to the tissues using high vacuum suction and resulted to low morbidity and satisfactory results.

All in all, more than three decades of improvements have led to liposuction being a procedure that involved the removal of more fat cells, less loss of blood, less risks and a lot less discomfort for patients.