Female Liposuction

Most patients are healthy enough for liposuction.  Dr. Albright and his staff will ensure that you are a good medical candidate for the procedure. More commonly at issue is if the patient is likely to achieve the cosmetic results they are expecting. This comes from a relatively common misunderstanding about what liposuction is. Liposuction surgery is a contouring procedure and not a weight loss or fat loss procedure. Yes, fat will be removed, but the overall weight of the removed tissue is actually very low compared to one's entire body mass. Furthermore, the only fat that can be removed, is the fat that is just underneath the skin, and not any fat that may be deep inside the body around your organs. In some patients, the 'intraabdominal' fat is a larger contributor to overall body shape, particularly of your side profile in a mirror, than the amount of subcutaneous fat. This is also true for one's skeletal structure. For example, some people have a big barrel chest due to the shape of their ribs, breast bone and collar bones. Liposuction is unable to change the skeletal structure. So understanding the limitations of the technique will help patients avoid disappointing results and make the most of their transformation. Dr. Albright and his staff will help you figure this out. Also, Alamo Plastic Surgery is one of the best plastic surgery clinics in San Antonio TX.

Additionally, some patients may not have a problem with fat, or at least fat alone. These patients may have a bigger problem with hanging or damaged/stretched skin. Very commonly these patients may present to have liposuction to improve their body's contour, when in fact, they would best benefit from removal of the excess/damaged skin. This is particularly prevalent in patients who have had massive weight loss (50+ pounds of weight loss whether from bariatric surgery or from behavior modification alone). These patients may benefit from an entirely different total body transformation solution, typically involving multiple staged procedures. Liposuction surgery procedure that uses a suction technique to remove fat from specific areas of the body.

Almost any area on the body where there is excess subcutaneous fat to remove. For many women, common treatment areas include the belly, flanks, back (upper bra roll and lower back), sides of the thighs (saddle bags), back of the upper thighs (banana roll), upper inner thighs, and lower thighs near the knees. Additional areas combined with breast surgery are the upper arms, and the sides of the breasts as it transitions around to the back. For facelift patients, neck liposuction may also be needed. Dr. Albright will be able to help you decide which options are best to achieve your goals! He is a well known plastic surgeon in Texas.

A tricky question to answer actually. Initially, immediately after surgery, the treated area will be swollen both from fluid added to the subcutaneous fat (tumescent fluid), as well as fluid from your circulation, called serous fluid. Surgery causes inflammation from the 'injury' and creates surgical 'space' which signals to your body to fill the new surgical space with fluid from your circulation. This fluid is what causes most of the swelling after surgery. This fluid will ultimately be reabsorbed by your body, except in the case of a seroma or significant lymphatic damage. After an initial 3-5 day worsening of swelling after surgery, there will be a gradual decrease for several months. This process occurs at different rates for different people and for different anatomic areas, and is further affected by one's postoperative activities. So this period of swelling is variable. However, for body and extremity liposuction, most of the swelling will resolve by 3-5 months. Typically, patients will resume exercise 1 month after surgery, which will aid in additional volume loss by the 3-5 month period.  

If you wanted to be very certain that the result is ready for "prime time", then plan to have the liposuction surgery performed at least 6 months before your planned engagement.