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Liposuction and Body Contouring- What Is the Difference Between Regular and Tumescent?

asked 4 months ago by Ms Asian
Latest answer by Ronald J. Edelson, MD
Question viewed 174 times
Tags: abdomen, thighs, comparison, contour

I'm considering having liposuction done on my abdomen and thighs. One clinic boasts of its postoperative care to help the body regain nice contours after lipo, eg endomology. Another recommended tumescent liposuction but has no contour services. Is body contouring necessary after liposuction? I can imagine the skin to be slightly saggy after that. Will wearing a compression garment alone make skin firmer? How good is tumescent lipo? Will I have unbalanced body from lipo? Thanks for your input!!

9 answers to Liposuction and Body Contouring- What Is the Difference Between Regular and Tumescent?

+2

Tumescent = 1-2 days recovery time, Regular = bruising, pain and weeks of recovery

The reason that tumescent has the reputation it has as being the safest and best form of liposuction is that when done correctly (and there are many people who try to imply they do tumescent but don't really) will result in quick recovery and minimal, if any, bruising. Having performed thousands of tumescent liposuctions (and SmartLipo now in conjunction with tumescent), I can say that my average patient goes back to work two days after their procedure with little or no bruising... more
Joel Schlessinger, MD

Omaha Dermatologist

www.LovelySkin.com

+2

Liposuction Techniques for Body Contouring

The terminology and marketing terms that are used for liposuction in sales literature can be confusing because they have not been used consistently or correctly. Since you are interested in doing a significant amount of liposuction on the abdomen and thighs I would recommend you pick a board certified plastic surgeon that is not trying to sell you on any given brand or technique. Your success and results depend more on the experience and training of the surgeon than on... more
Marcus L. Peterson, MD

Saint George Plastic Surgeon
+2

For lipo choose a qualified surgeon not the brand

Liposuction of any type is surgery and choosing an experienced plastic surgeon is more important than choosing the technology or "brand" of lipo. For example, a recent survey found that around 90% of board certified plastic surgeons see no benefit to laser lipo (for example "smart lipo") yet it is hyped as somehow being safer despite the additional risk from the laser. I think post-lipo treatments such as endermologie can be helpful in some cases but they will not tighten... more
Richard Baxter, MD

Seattle Plastic Surgeon
+2

Types of liposuctioning

Searching for liposuctioning options can be very, very confusing. Here are some of my observations as a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon who does only body work. Tumescent technique involves injection of a lot of fluid that contains dilute lidocaine. The purpose being to numb the area and compress the blood vessels so that there is less bleeding. Most Dr.s do the super wet technique(although they call it tumescent) and that works very well also. I don't think anyone uses the old tech... more
John P. Stratis, MD

Harrisburg Plastic Surgeon
+2

"Regular" vs "Tumescent" Liposuction

Most people would assume "regular" liposuction to mean liposuction under general anesthesia. Tumescent liposuction means you are awake, breathing on your own, mildly sedated and the anesthesia is not general but localized to the area of treatment. Limiting the numbing to the area of treatment is done by putting in dilute lidocaine which is like Novacaine but specialized for liposuction. The questions you have about what the skin will look like after lipo depends... more
T. Wayne Day, MD

Nashville Dermatologic Surgeon
+1

Abdomen

Tumescent liposuction means that prior to fat removal, the fat layer is injected with sterile fluid containing local anesthesia and epinephrine. The term tumescent means literally "swelling" , and most surgeons do some form of it whether the patient is awake or asleep during the procedure. The use of a compression garment is also typical after surgery to reduce swelling but also encourages even contration of the skin. Endermology is a fancy kind... more
Ronald J. Edelson, MD

San Diego Plastic Surgeon
+1

Lipo & Body Contouring. What's Diff Between Regular & Tumescent?Answr:

All types of lipo have one thing in common: an incision is made and a small tube is passed back and forth under the skin and fat is suctioned out. Where they differ is what you do to the fat before you suction it out. You can do nothing (regular, which is not done too much anymore), you can soften the fat by injecting fluid, kind of the gold Standard now(tummescent technique) or you can melt the fat (Vaser, SmartLipo, SlimLipo). It is unknown if the after lipo treatments really help but... more
John J. Corey, MD

Phoenix Plastic Surgeon
+1

Liposuction

I have used almost all the technologies available to a surgeon to perform liposuction. In my opinion, it is not the wand but the magician that creates the magic! AS for post-op contouring, in the majority of cases all I have them do is wear a garment for 3-6 weeks. Occasionally I will have them massage firm areas. I do not find it necessary to perform lympahtic drainage massage or need to use any of the "fancy" machines which in my opinion do not do much. more
Steven Wallach, MD

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon
+1

Liposuction

Body contouring after liposuction using endermology is not usually necessary. There are currently so many forms of liposuction out there that it is unclear what is normal anymore if you define normal as what most surgeons are doing. Tumescent usually refers to injection more solution containing local anesthetic just prior to surgery and using that as the primary/only source of anesthesia. It is not inherently safer in and of itself compared to any other form of liposuction although it may be... more
Aaron Stone, MD

Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon

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