WHAT IS LIPOSUCTION?
For the most part, you feel good about many aspects of your body's appearance, but perhaps there are one or two “issues” that you would love to see smoothed, flattened or reduced. Often, these "issues" are due to genetics, and are not something that we can control. The way our bodies store and deposit fat is programmed by our genes. Some of us hold fat around our middle, or abdomen, and some around our bottom, hips and thighs. However, how your body stores fat can be altered. Current theories about fat cells state that there are a certain number of fat cells in a given area that can develop throughout childhood, but that after puberty, the number of cells generally does not increase. If weight is gained, the amount of fat stored in a given cell can increase, but the number of cells will not. This concept explains why removing fat (and fat cells) with liposuction can be permanent. When liposuction is done, the number of cells in the given area is reduced. If future weight gain occurs, more fat can be stored in the treated area, but the shape that was achieved will be maintained. For example, if a "saddle bag" on the lower outer thigh is removed with liposuction, but after surgery the patient gains a significant amount of weight, the thigh overall will become larger, but the "saddle bag" will remain flat.
Liposuction (also known as body contouring or liposculpture) is the single most common cosmetic surgery in the United States, with more than 400,000 procedures done in the U.S. alone. You have likely heard about liposuction hundreds of times, but perhaps you do not know exactly what it involves. Come into our office and we will take the time to educate you completely, and formulate a personal treatment plan to help you make the best possible decision. In basic terms, liposuction is a cosmetic surgery procedure in which the fat in a particular area of the body is broken up and then “sucked” from the body. The fat is removed via a cannula, which is a tiny hollow tube attached to a high-pressure vacuum.
Dr. Rice is an experienced liposuction surgeon, having done hundreds of body contouring procedures in his career. In addition to body contouring with liposuction, he uses liposuction on all of his facelift patients to ensure the best possible outcome and form for the neck and jowls of the face. He enjoys the artistic aspect that body contouring/liposculpture entails, and he takes pride in the finesse that is required in such a procedure.