Can Fat Store in the Face After Liposuction? And Likelihood of Gaining?

Question

If a person were to have liposuction on arms, legs and stomach would the untreated face begin to show possible weight gain afterwards? How likely is it that weight gain would go to the face? If a person was eating healthy/exercising before lipo with a steady weight and then continues after the surgery, will they not regain any weight elsewhere? If a fat was taken out of legs, does your body want to gain that lost weight back.or is it lost forever as long as you maintain previous healthy diet?

Dana Goldberg, MD · Answer

Liposuction permanently reduces the chances of gaining weight in the treated areas because it permanently removes fat cells. Most weight gain is from more fat accumulating in cells, not from new cells.

	If you stay at a stable weight, you won't gain in other places. If you do gain weight, all your existing fat cells will get larger so your proportions will usually stay the same as after surgery.

	One reason many people feel like they gain weight or gain in their face is because when your problem area is no longer a problem, you tend not to notice weight gain. A patient of mine who had liposuction of the love handles gained 25 pounds after surgery and didn't noticed until his face looked quite different because his pants still fit.

Kenneth Hughes, MD · Answer

Liposuction of the arms, legs, and stomach will not result in more fat on the face. However, if you gain weight, the fat will not accumulate as readily in the arms, legs, and stomach. Therefore, you may accumulate more fat in the other areas, such as the face. Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

Norman Bakshandeh Day, MD, FACS · Answer

When you gain weight you will gain weight proportionalely in every fat cell regardless of what part of the body the cell is located in

Shaun Parson, MD · Answer

Thanks so much for your question. It's a question that is often asked by patients. Liposuction is not an alternative to weight loss. Rather, liposuction is a way of contouring the body. By the time a person is around 8 years old they have actually developed all of their fat cells that they will ever develop as long as they never become obese. If someone does become obese over their life they will make more fat cells, otherwise they will have a finite number of cells that act as fat storage containers that can get bigger or smaller depending on your weight. After liposuction you won't necessarily make more cells as long as you maintain the same weight. If you do gain weight following the procedure you may gain weight in areas that you had not gained weight in before such as your face. Hope this helps to answer your question.

Can Fat Store in the Face After Liposuction? And Likelihood of Gaining?

Answers (4)