I'm trying to loose 20 to 30 pounds. Does Non- Invasive Liposuction really work?

While liposuction can be used to reshape proportions, even the "invasive" kind is not a weight loss technique and wouldn't result in a 20-30 pound weight loss.  Most of my patients will only lose a pound or two with liposuction.  In general I believe most of the non-invasive fat reduction techniques have minimal to no results and are a waste of money.  I have seen a few results of non-invasive techniques presented at meetings by my colleagues that showed slight improvements in patients who are of a normal body weight with very small areas of stubborn fat to address, but in even those patients I thought they would have had a better result from regular liposuction.  I suggest that you work on losing those 20-30 pounds before having surgery then discuss your remaining concerns with a board certified plastic surgeon when you're closer to your ideal body weight.  Best wishes and thank you for your question.

"Non-invasive liposuction" in my opinion is a very inaccurate term.  Liposuction denotes removing fat from the body using suctioning devices and therefore is invasive.  There are many non-invasive devices that are marketed to reduce fat without a surgeon actually removing fat.  I do not know of any peer reviewed research studies that confirm the efficacy of these devices.  Having said this, I would recommend you consult your plastic surgeon and review the body of evidence out there for the many "non-invasive" procedures on the market.  It is my opinion that the best way to reduce fat from the body is to actually remove the fat... i.e. liposuction.  Good luck and be safe.

Liposuction requires surgery with suctioning to remove fat.  The ways in which this is performed currently is much less invasive than in the past, but does have some downtime and recovery -- whether with a laser, manual, ultrasound or other methods such as power-assisted.  Non-invasive fat loss does work, with coolsculpting (zeltiq) and ultrasound (liposonix) showing the best results in studies and having the most long-term patient treatments.  however, each procedure only gives a small amount of body contouring or weight loss as compared to what can be done with true liposuction/lipocontouring.  you will get weight loss with surgical suctioning, however it is not as significant as one would think and exercise and diet are necessary to keep the results long-term.  i wish you the best of luck, Dr. Emer.