How is Body Fat Accurately / Concretely Measured Before Suctioning It out Through Liposuction?

It is actually simpler than you think. Just pinch the skin and measure the difference between your index and thumb. That distance is a double layer of fat under the skin. 2 people can have the same BMI but one has more fat in the love handles and the other has more in the lower abdomen. The only way to know where to remove the fat from and how much to remove is to examine the patient.

I hope you realize that this format of posting questions and receiving answers lacks the face to face direct communication required for you to make an informed decision regarding your surgery.

My response to your question/post does not represent formal medical advice or constitute a doctor patient relationship. You need to consult with i.e. personally see a board certified plastic surgeon in order to receive a formal evaluation and develop a doctor patient relationship in order to know if this assessment is valid.

Determining the amount of body fat to remove is based on many factors that are determined at the time of consultation.  A physical exam will help determine amount of fat versus skin and muscle as well as the location of the fat.  An accurate amount of fat to remove is not as important as improving the contour of the treated area.  There is finesse and art to liposuction that comes with experience.

      There is not a compelling need to know the body fat percentage prior to liposuction as liposuction is used to target stubborn areas not for overall fat reduction.  The relative volume to be removed from an area is less important than achieving contour improvement.  Find a plastic surgeon with ELITE credentials who performs hundreds of liposuction procedures each year.  Then look at the plastic surgeon's website before and after photo galleries to get a sense of who can deliver the results.  Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

The determination of how much body fat there is, as opposed to muscle and skin, is made on physical exam. Liposuction is not about a "concrete measurement" or number. It is a technique used to contour the body and remove focal unwanted fat deposits. The amount of fat that can be removed safely is not always the amount you want to remove. What you leave behind in liposuction is more important than what you take out. You want your plastic surgeon to take the right amount of fat from the right locations, leaving a nice contour. Taking as much as possible does not equal the best result. The amount and quality of the skin in those areas is important too, since once the volume is removed, you are relying on the skin to shrink down around the smaller volume. If you have excess skin, or poor quality skin, you may need excision of the skin for the best result.

The determination is made by physical examination and experience. Fat can be felt throught the skin. Certain areas do not normally store extra fat, and can be used as a benchmark for skin thinkness. Other areas, that tend to store fat disporportionately, can be compared to the "normal" skin thickness with a pinch test. Experience allows me to make an educated guess about how much "extra" fat there is, and how much can be removed. With liposuction, proportions are more important than absolute volume.  Liposuction is not a weight loss tool, but a way to sculpt the body by removing localized, disproportionate accumulations of fat.