How Many Inches Are Lost with Lipo?

The difference before and after surgery is highly variable with liposuction.
There are patients whose dress size stays exactly the same, just clothes fit much better. Often underlying muscle structure or bone structure minimizes the change in clothing size (or inches).
Some patients drop 4 dress sizes, particularly patients who are shorter, heavier set and have tight skin enabling more aggressive procedures.
It is better not to be fixated on a dress size or inch measurement, or you might be disappointed, for the reasons above.

Thank you for your question.What is frustrating for many patients to understand is that there is no exact measure for how many inches, pounds, or dress sizes a patient can expect to loose before a liposuction procedure.  The goal of liposuction is to afford patients better overall body contour by removing some of the excess fat between the skin and muscular layers of the body.  The reduction that patients can expect to achieve is highly dependent upon the amount of fat available for harvest, skin tone, and the bony underlying structures of the body.  I caution patients from this idea that liposuction is, in any way, a weight loss procedure.  The only goal of liposuction is to target stubborn localized pockets of fat, provide patients with better overall body contour and to help patients look better and fit better in their clothing.  It is important that patients understand this and that they are not held up on an inches lost or weight loss goal.  I hope you find this helpful and I wish you the best.

It’s not unusual for patients to think in terms of
inches and dress size when they undergo liposuction. Unfortunately, it’s
difficult to reliably predict postoperative measurements with these procedures.
For this reason, it’s important to think in terms of contour improvement
instead of inches. Surgeons can ultimately impact shape but not necessarily
dimensions with liposuction.

In your case, it might be possible to accomplish
your aesthetic goals. Unfortunately after a 95 pound weight loss, loose skin
may represent a problem as well. Under these circumstances a skin resection may
be necessary.

It’ important to discuss these issues with your
plastic surgeon so you totally understand your options and what can be realistically be accomplished.  

Liposuction should be viewed as a contouring or sculpting procedure. Removing fat between the muscle and the skin can shape areas of fullness that persist in spite of diet and exercise. It is impossible to predict how many inches you can lose with this surgery.
Also, you are to be congratulated on your weight loss and on maintaining your healthy weight for 10 years! I want to make the point that often, massive weight loss leaves loose skin and that liposuction alone will not correct that. I am sure that a surgeon certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery will have addressed any excess skin during your consultation and that this was factored into your surgical plan, but I want to make sure that you are aware of the limitations of liposuction in handling stretched out skin.

Unfortunately there are no formulas for calculating or correlating loss of inches with volume of fat aspirated during a liposuction procedure. Your resulting inches is a complex result of factoring your musculoskeletal structures, skin laxity, and adipose tissue layer.