How much skin tightening from Smart Lipo?

I am 30 yrs old and my inner thighs have been a problem since I was a child. I have short legs and my thighs touch and are very flabby. I m hardly ever in trousers in fact.I work out regularly and weigh 120 Lbs and am 5 2. Doctor doesn t know how much of my inner thighs is composed of fat and how much is loose skin - he said he wont remove much fat with the smart lipo as he is concerned I might end up with a lot of loose skin..he recommended I wear the compression garment for at least 4 - 6 week and no strenuous workouts or piltaes for at least a month as I might stretch the skin more - not sure what to do - pls help..any views re inner thighs procedure and loose skin...

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How much skin tightening you get depends on several factors including: how loose your skin is to start with and the dose of laser energy used among other factors. Given you BMI and exercise regimen, Vikie, I'd encourage you to consult with a Smartlipo practitioner. I believe your results would be excellent. Those of us who perform laser lipolysis regularly and have a large number of patients to look back on generally agree that laser lipolysis leads to skin tightening beyond what you would achieve with traditional liposuction (indeed there is some tightening with traditional liposuction).  Those with hanging skin flaps before Smartlipo should not expect much tightening after Smartlipo. But then again, they were probably not candidates for this procedure to begin with. With practice we have learnt that the total dose of laser energy required to achieve good results is generally higher than the manufacturer's guidelines. Incidentally there is such a thing as too much laser energy which leads to complications. There is an optimal middle ground which one learns with practice and by talking to other practitioners. In fact, there is an impressive amount of skin tightening in the chin, neck and jowls areas while removing hardly any fat. Laser lipolysis is so new that the medical literature does not reflect all these real life experiences. A lot of things we know and use in practice in this whole laser medicine and surgery field are not in the books yet. Yet we know anecdotally and through experience what seems to  work well. Our observation has been that the darker skin types tend to achieve more tightening. Not surprisingly this is most likely because dark skin tends to be more efficient at absorbing laser energy (not necessarily an advantage in laser medicine).

MPX Smart Lipo is NOT hype, though some plastic surgeons who have not embraced it might have you think so. There have been several medical articles in the literature that support it's skin tightening effect. A.G Goldman, a world renown lipo surgeon confirmed significant neocollagenesis in his 5 year study published in 2006. Badin confirmed that melting of the bands liberates the retracted skin without causing skin injury. Renowned NYC Dermatologist, Bernie Katz,M.D., using tattooing of the skin to accurately measure "5 cm square tightening", showed an average of 15% tightening in the overall area in just 1 month. And Plastic Surgeon Barry DiBernardo reported that the most significant skin retraction was 32% at 3 months. That having been said, the health of the skin, the amount of laxity, and sagging should be evaluated by an experienced  Smart Lipo surgeon (over 100 cases). Results do vary, and in practice I don't hesitate to refer patients for abdominoplasty if they need or desire it. For the patient who wants significant fat removal, skin tightening, minimal discomfort (as compared to traditional lipo, vaser, or power assisted lipo), AND back to work in a couple of days, the consider MPX Smart Lipo. JUST LOOK to the patient satisfaction stats to your right. Smart Lipo 81% positive vs. Regular Lipo 56% positive ! Good Luck.

No practitioner can give you a very accurate answer to how much skin tightening you'll have after SmartLipo (or any other laser lipolysis) because no one really knows the answer.  Having performed several hundred SmartLipo procedures, the best results are always found in those who do not have much loose skin to begin with.  The patients who need tummy tucks will still need tummy tucks; no laser system will avoid that to get the result you want.  There will always be a certain amount of skin "rebound" tightening after liposuction.  How much again depends on your skin elasticity at the time of the procedure and only a thorough exam in person will be able to give you a reasonable estimation of a final result.  Other techinques of tightening the skin with aggressive sub-dermal liposuction actually destroyed the overlying skin and caused vascular compromise to the skin causing a red, mottled, distorted skin appearance.  SmartLipo can help tighten the skin a little more than regular liposuction but not by too much.  Again, it will never replace a tummy tuck result in patients want that tummy tuck result.  I like to combine Thermage with my SmartLipo patients if they truly want to avoid a tummy tuck procedure to maximize skin tightening.  This yields nice results for patients who could benefit from a tummy tuck but just do not want to undergo that procedure.