Can Skin Rippling and Cellulite Post-Liposuction Be Eliminated?

Dear C_Pan,
Your experience is very common following traditional liposuction. Most patients who have had liposuction are very happy with the fat removal and the improvement in body contour. However, as many as 20% of people who have had a successful liposuction report skin irregularities, lumps, bumps, and uneven areas called contour deformities and loose skin.
First, I would recommend massaging the skin and the areas that are swollen or lumpy-this will help. Also, exercising to firm and bulk the muscles beneath the skin can help fill and firm your skin.You are only 12 weeks, you still have swelling, and you will improve with time. You will not know your final appearance for at least 6 months to a year.
When fat is removed from beneath the skin by suction, the skin must shrink or tighten back to the body contour. With large volume liposuction and with patients who do not have good skin tone, often the skin does not shrink enough and loose skin is left behind.
Irregularities and uneven areas occur because of uneven or non-uniform fat removal during the suction procedure.
New laser liposuction techniques have radically changed the occurrance of these problems in my clinical experience.
In laser liposuction, a small laser fiber is inserted beneath the skin to liquefy the fat before it is removed by suction. Melting the fat makes removal much easier, and smaller cannulas (the tubes that suck the fat out) are used. The heat from the laser also tightens the skin as the treatment is done.
In my experience with laser liposuction, in over a year, so far my patients have had uniformly smooth skin and firm skin after their laser liposuction procedure. See before and after photo.
In addition I have had success in correcting skin irregularities in patients who have lumps, bumps and contour deformities after old style liposuction.
The laser fiber is re-inserted and the irregular areas are treated with the laser. Thus treatment has had a smoothing and firming effect on the areas treated. See photo below. On the left I have marked with a purple circle irregularities on the abdominal skin which were left behind after a standard liposuction done two years before.
Before and after laser liposuction to correct the contour deformities on the skin
Laser liposuction is new and not widely available yet. However I am sure the popularity of this technique will rapidy increase because of the smoothing and skin tigfhtening benefits.
As I said in the beginning, you will get better. I would not think about any revision until at least a year after your original liposuction, and by then you may not need it.

Cellulite After Liposuction

Obesity, cellulite, stretch marks, a history of back and forth weight loss, or loose, sagging, inelastic skin are problems which would tend toward poor results during a liposuction. In fact, these problems may be worsened by this procedure and may be best addressed by other surgeries such as a leg or body lift (e.g. tummy tuck) to improve your appearance if appropriate (loose skin). Lymphatic massage may also be of benefit within the first year following liposuction.

For treatments that helps to treat your cellulite, there is a laser treatment called Cellulaze that was recently approved by the FDA last year. This procedure is proven to show better results after one session. The outcome lasts one year or longer, but you may need followup sessions depending on the results.

 

n my practice I have found that the only way to improve cellulite is to attack it with several different noninvasive technologies to contract and smooth at different depths. I call it Maercks Multimodal Therapy or MMT. I have never seen any one technology have an impressive effect on its own. Remember for most interventions, who performs the procedure and how they do it is more important than a brand name!

All the best,

Rian A. Maercks M.D.