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Ask a Plastic Surgeon / Liposuction
Question 5
Question:
I am an overwieght male who does not fit the description of a person who is an ideal candidate for lipo (ie: i am not near my normal wieght with only some spots of fat etc..., but rather i am overweight and have excess fat around the abdomen area). As you know, fat cells are never eliminated through wieght loss, they only shrink and then expand when weight is re-gained.
My question is this....
I am obviously not considering liposuction as a means to radically change my body shape at this time (or as a means to lose wieght), but rather as a means to remove some of those fat cells, so that if and when i do lose wieght again, it will be more permanent or easier to maintain the wieght because the number of fat cells have been reduced. Does this make any sense or am I completely crazy to think that eliminating some fat cells would help me in maintaining weight loss when i do lose wieght?
If not, would it be more effective to lose wight and then undergo the procedure? My goal is to reduce the amount of fat cells i have to struggle against during weight loss and maintenance.
Thank you
From: WJ, New York 10/24/2007
Response: WJ,
You are absolutely correct in your analysis although the ability to gain and lose weight is not affected by the number of fat cells in your body. The weight loss (minimal) of liposuction will not help you nor will any of the benefits of weight loss be realized. This will not help you lose weight but, for the problem areas when you do reach your ideal weight, the best time to perform liposuction is when you are heavy. Given that you are only going to have liposuction performed on the areas that are probematic for you when you do reach your ideal weight, performing the procedure when you are heavy has the advantage of giving a smoother result once your weight loss is accomplished. If you are very overweight, your complication rate is higher and I would suggest only being, at most, 20% above your ideal weight when any elective surgery is performed. Also, it will be very unpredictable in terms of what happens to your skin (wrinkling, "cellulite", etc.) if it has been stretched for many years with excessive weight.
Submitted by: Dr. Gregory Caputy, Honolulu, HI Web site for Dr. Caputy
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