Are Black women more prone to liposuction burns? Or is it fully based on the doctors technique and negligence?

Dear Chrissyskies35,
your ethnicity will have no effect on the possibility of liposuction burns. If you are considering a surgery, I would suggest you to consult a board-certified plastic surgeon. Only after a thorough examination you will get more information and recommendations.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

It is technique based. Negligence is a very strong word that I would not use. Some spots can be very tricky and burns can happen in even the most experienced of hands (though this should be uncommon).

That sounds like a loaded question, but objectively speaking, no one is more prone to getting a burn, pigment has nothing to do with it. However, there is going to be some trauma to the incision skin edges whatever the liposuction technique. Only vaser generates heat from the cannula that must be mitigated by insulating the skin with a port protector and moist towel. And if that heat is excessive the incision can have some healing problems. Any patient can get hyperpigmentation at the point of entry of the cannula from friction trauma, but some patients will have a tendency to hyperpigment, and this is most noticeable in type IV and V patients as they have increased pigmentation to start with. A very fair skinned Black woman would be a type IV or V.
If you are talking about end hit burns, where the vaser hits the undersurface of the skin and rests there too long, then a burn can occur with scarring. Fortunately this should be very rare nowadays as it is well known that you do not allow that to happen, you keep the cannula moving at all times and parallel not into the skin. So your question does not specify exactly what you mean by "liposuction burns", but these are two scenarios that could be included.

The color of the skin has no relationship with Liposuction burns at all.
Burns are more related to the use of energy-based-liposuction or aggressiveness trying to remove the majority of the fat. No doctor will ever try to burn a patient on purpose.
Dr. Cárdenas

It depends on what you are considering a "lipo burn". If you mean an actual burn to the skin where skin has damage etc. then this is fully up to the surgeon's technique and not more common on black skin. It is more common with energy devices such as laser/vaser where heat can burn the skin and aggressive lipo cannulas such as baskets. If you mean hyperpigmentation or PIH (post inflammatory hyperpigmentation), then yes this is more common on darker pigmented skin including African American, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, etc. This can occur with just the trauma of liposuction and causes pigment to collect in the skin overlying the areas of lipo, especially where it is aggressive like the waistline with a BBL. Similar to pigment that collects when you get a bug bite or pimple.

Hello dear! thanks to contacting us. the liposuction`s burns will depend on many factors: your skin, if it is sensitive , if you smoke ,if you have previous precesses , etc. hope you have the information that you need

Standard Liposuction does not consist of any instruments or techniques that generate heat.

For that reason burn injuries cannot happen from Liposuction. Other injuries are possible but not burns.

There are adjuvant treatments done in conjunction with yes Liposuction such as Laser Liposuction a.k.a. smart Lipo, bodytite, J plasma a.k.a. Renuvion that use heat generating instruments that could leave patients burned. Do use of ultrasound assistance such as VASER while not heat generating instrument can also cause skin damage.

Skin color should not make anyone be at increased risk for injuries related to any form of liposuction. Skin color can increase the risk of laser related injuries for external skin laser treatments such as laser hair removal, laser skin tightening, or any IPL treatment.

Dermal injuries are pretty unusual and rare to happen during any type of liposuction procedure. It should be unheard of by someone who is properly trained (board certified or board eligible plastic surgeon ) and has experience.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD