Liposuction: Q&A

Ask a Question

Non Surgical Liposuction

i am wondering if non surgical liposuction can give the same results as liposuction surgery, but without long recovery (read here bruises last 6 months!). i'd like to get fat taken out of love handles.

Tags:

liposuction alternative non surgical

Comment on this

22 Doctor Answers | Asked by anon

Doctor Answers (22)
Community Comments (0)

Non-surgical Liposuction can give similar results to Liposuction in thin areas

By nonsurgical liposuction I suspect you mean ZERONA which is a non surgical laser treatment to thin fat areas. It does work but only on thin areas. If your love handles are not too big then it would be a consideration to do @ $2400 for a series of 6 treatments over a 2 wk period. It is totally painless, no injections, no downtime, no bruising and results can be seen within 1 month. Definitely get a consultation.

David Hansen, MD

19 reviews

Beverly Hills Dermatologic Surgeon

www.DrDavidHansen.com

Non-surgical liposuction works like non-dieting weight loss!

Liposuction is surgery. Always. There are techniques that are advertised to reduce fatty tissues without incisions or surgery, such as external ultrasound, RF treatments, Endermologie (more for cellulite, but sometimes "oversold"), and lipo-dissolve or mesotherapy. The latter two techniques involve injection of caustic chemicals designed to "melt," "dissolve," or otherwise kill fat cells "that your body will harmlessly absorb!" Killing fat... more

The only way to remove fat is to actually remove it

There are several forms of liposuction. They all have one thing in common: You and those pesky fat cells have gone your separate ways when you are done with the procedure. Non-surgical techniques, I suspect, might accomplish some fat redistribution; but if it isn't removed from the body it is still there. You may wish to research non-surgical methods more fully to see what others say about their experiences. Realself.com is a great starting place... more

What is nonsurgical liposuction?

There are a lot of terms being thrown around these days, so when you say "nonsurgical liposuction" you could be referring to several things. One is injection lipolysis, which is related to mesotherapy. This is not an FDA-approved procedure and very controversial. Another is using ultrasound to nonsurgically reduce fat, and there are 2 companies studying this (Liposonix, Ultrashape) but they are not available in the U.S. yet. To make it even more muddled, the laser lipo companies... more

Non-surgical fat removal vs liposuction does not produce the same result

The allure of a non-surgical treatment vs actual surgery is certainly appealing from a cost and recovery standpoint. The differences, however, are in the result. No method of non-surgical fat removal (e.g., Zerona, Zeltiq) can produce remotely the same result as that of actual liposuction surgery. As long as your expectations are tempered, there is nothing wrong with trying a non-surgical approach first. The worst that can happen is that it doesn't do what you want it to do. You can... more

There is no good "non-surgical" liposuction

Liposuction, where incisions are made in the skin, cannulas are inserted into the fat and moved back and forth to remove the fat, is surgery, plain and simple. Done well this should give excellant results of the areas you wish corrected. Some bruising always occurs, but should resolve by 2 - 3 weeks, not 6 months as you mentioned. Many "non-invasive" fat removal options are heavily marketed as alternatives to liposuction but all suffer from either lack... more

Jeffrey M. Darrow, MD

18 reviews

Boston Plastic Surgeon

Liposuction is surgery

There is no 'non-surgical' liposuction technique available. Liposuction is a surgical procedure, and has some of the risks (and benefits) that other surgical procedures have. There are some new technologies available that can contour the body using non-invasive treatments. Zeltiq is not yet FDA approved for body contouring, but does appear to be effective for focal reduction of abdominal and flank fat. It is in use in the US on an 'off-label' manner by physicians... more

Non Surgical Liposuction

CoolSculpting by Zeltiq and Zerona are both promoted for non-surgical fat loss. In my practice, we use CoolSculpting Complete. The Zerona device, a non-surgical device designed to remove fat with no surgery and no down time DID receive an FDA clearance. However, and FDA clearance alone should not be enough to convince a physician of safety or efficacy of a device. I have never, and will never proclaim my practice to be "First in geographic region to offer treatment x" I would... more

Michael Law, MD

17 reviews

Raleigh-Durham Plastic Surgeon

michaellawmd.com

A Liposuction Alternative for love handles

For isolated fat collections in areas such as the love handles, the new technology of CoolSculpting has shown outstanding results. CoolSculpting freezes fat cells which are the most susceptible cells in the body to cold, and ice crystals that form in the fat cells cause these cells to dissolve and go away forever. CoolSculpting can't be used everywhere on the body, but in the love handles, abdomen, back, and medial thighs we have seen fantastic results. There is not any... more

Non Surgical Liposuction

The best way to remove fat is by liposuction or excision. There are some studies that have been done using LASER to decrease fat in a noninvasive way. One of these LASER studies was done along with Dr. Frank Greenway and is awaiting publication. We also published a good study of decreasing fat using a proprietary mesotherapy formula. I think these two methods are useful for small amounts of fat but liposuction is better for large areas of fatty deposits. more

With non-surgical liposuction you can achieve good results but only for minor fat deposits

For really minor fat deposits you could use ultrafocus ultrasound, non surgical liposuction. The most important thing is that you keep your expectations realistic. Ultrasound Lipo, VASER, etc. can achieve good results.

No Such Thing as Non Surgical Liposuction

There is no controversy - ONLY LIPOSUCTION WILL GIVE THE SAME RESULTS AS LIPOSUCTION. The many other purported techniques such as Zerona, Zeltiq and others at best will give some minimal to mild benefit.

Non Surgical Liposuction

Non Surgical Liposuction techniques can yield some benefit for minimal improvement. Substantial areas like love handles are generally best done with liposuction surgery.

Liposuction bruising does not last for 6 months

Bruising from formal liposuction lasts for about two weeks. However, it produces significant results as compared to nonsurgical methods which have been shown to marginally alter body contour. Lower level procedures produce lesser results and, ultimately are not cost effective. Many patients are unsatisfied with the outcome and then opt for a comprehensive procedure with a board certified plastic surgeon, effectively paying twice. I can think of no procedure that, when properly... more

Non-surgical liposuction - Ultrashape and other alternatives

"Non-surgical liposuction" is a misnomer as liposuction is always surgical. I think what you mean is "non-surgical alternatives" to liposuction, which include several non-invasive procedures that can reduce or destroy fat without liposuction or any other form of surgery. Liposuction is still the gold-standard for fat removal. Whether tumescent, ultrasonic, laser assisted etc., liposuction gurantees that, at the end of the procedure, the removed fat is in a... more

Magic wand liposuction??

I suppose if I had a magic wand, I could do liposuction without surgery. But that's about the only way to make that happen. Liposuction is SURGERY, period. Incisions must be made in the skin to allow the suction cannula to pass beneath the skin to remove the fat. That's surgery. Mesotherapy is not FDA-approved, and I've seen plenty of problems as a result of mesotherapy--all very difficult to correct. Zerona is low-level laser therapy,... more

Carmen Kavali, MD

11 reviews

Atlanta Plastic Surgeon

"Non Surgical Liposuction"

By definition Lipo (fat) Suction (vacuum removal) requires putting a suction device into the fat to remove it. So ALL liposuction by its very definition IS surgical. There are a lot of nonsurgical methods which claim fat REMOVAL - most of these either do not work, work unpredictably or work poorly. Attempts to dissolve fat with injections into it of a cocktail of non FDA approved drugs (IE Mesotherapy, Lipodissolve etc) have been disappointing and generated a lot of unhappy patients, hard... more

There is no such thing as nonsurgical liposuction

There may be nonsurgical methods of treating fat, but they are not liposuction. Liposuction can be done by different methods, but they all involve inserting devices into the fat to remove the fat. That's surgery. Lipodissolve, or mesotherapy, involves injecting compounds into the fat to dissolve it, but it is not liposuction. External methods of applying energy in order to reduce fat are also not liposuction. Be wary of spending money on these methods thinking they're substitutes for... more

I wonder what non surgical lipo is?

I wonder what non surgical liposuction is? Is it an external device that treats the fat to help dissolve it? Is there no invasive technique and therefore, a true non surgical procedure. If so, it shouldn’t be called liposuction. The suction refers to an invasive procedure. A cannula is moved back and forth through the fat and removes the fat via suction. This is surgery. It is impossible to answer your question without knowing what the surgeon truly intends to do.

Never heard of nonsurgical liposuction

As Dr. Baxter explained, there are maybe some other things you mean but none will give you the result of proprly done liposuction in a good candidate.

Liposuction is what you need.

You will get much better results with liposuction. Even when we remove a large amount of fat the patient goes to work in 3-4 days and the bruising is gone in 2-3 weeks!

Toby Mayer, MD

7 reviews

Beverly Hills Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.bevhills.com

Liposuction is more efficient

The short answer is NO. Non-surgical body contouring techniques could help, but are not as practical as liposuction. Liposuction mechanicaly removes fat from the body and that makes it work better.