Vaser Lipo 6 months post - no difference? Should I be concerned? (Photo)

Question

I received 360 hi-def vaser lipo from a board certified Beverly Hills surgeon about 6 months ago. My results are disappointing but he said in my 3 month it was normal and we’d revisit options at 6-12 months. This was a $30K procedure including my arms. I followed post op instructions to a T and continued with massages into 12 weeks, and still get regular lymphatic drainage bi-weekly. I am a healthy eater and exercise regularly. Should I be concerned? Did he not perform the surgery correctly?

J. Timothy Katzen, MD, FACS · Answer

Thank you for your inquiry about your post-VASER liposuction results. I understand your disappointment and would like to offer some insight. When examining the images you provided, the primary issue seems to be muscle weakness, which is causing the distention of your abdomen, particularly in the profile view.

VASER liposuction primarily addresses fat, and to some extent, skin tightening, but does not tighten the rectus abdominus muscle. In order to achieve optimal results, I would recommend considering an abdominoplasty, also known as a tummy tuck. This procedure involves making a low incision in the abdomen, dissecting the tissue up to the sternum, and placating the rectus abdominus muscle. Any excess skin and fat would be removed from your abdomen, leaving you with a contoured figure and reducing your waistline by 4 to 6 inches.

I hope this response is helpful in understanding your next steps.

Sincerely, Dr. Katzen

Navjot Singh, MD, FACG · Answer

Hello, Thank you for your question.Final results can take up to one year to be seen, but by 3 to 6 months post-op you shouldsee an improvement. From the pictures it'shard to tell, but have you talked to him about underlining diastasis recti? Visceral fat? Skin laxity? I wish you well!

Sean Satey, MD, FACS · Answer

Based on your pictures, it's difficult to determine-
1. What was your starting point?2. Do you have underlying muscle diastasis (midline muscle weakeness)? Is there visceral fat?3. Have you gained weight since the operation?
High definition liposuction results are generally immediate, and results can be seen on table. There is always a certain degree of swelling that comes on- but not enough to completely mask the results. At your 6 month mark, you should certainly be able to see results! 
If your starting point was much larger, then this procedure has helped sculpt your body into a more "hourglass" figure. 
A muscle diastasis, or midline muscle weakness, will not be addressed with VASER lipo. Neither will visceral fat (the fat that is under the muscles and surrounding the organs). A diastasis recti will need a tummy tuck to be repaired, and will snatch the waistline whereas visceral fat can be addressed solely by diet, exercise and possibly bio-identical hormones.
-Dr. Satey

Darryl J. Blinski, MD · Answer

Sorry for your unsatisfactory results. But posting photos in clothing does not help determine exactly what happened. Best to virtual consult and expect revision liposurgery in the $10,000+ ranges.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Liposuction results are final at three months and will not change my waiting further.
Likewise massage or any other postoperative therapy has no impact on the final results.
The outcome of liposuction results is a direct reflection of the patient’s individual candidacy for the procedure combined with the skill and experience of the surgeon.
Geographic location of surgeons has no impact on skill or experience.
The amount of money charged for a procedure is also unrelated to skill or experience though the most talented exergents typically don’t give bargain basement prices.
To make an assessment on the outcome of an operation we need to see proper before and after pictures. If you don’t have before and after pictures then ask your provider to forward the ones they took.
If you’re unhappy with your results you should follow up with your provider.
There is no need to wait any further and telling you you need to wait is simply the provider kicking the can down the road hoping that you won’t come back. 
In the end your surgeon is responsible for the outcome of the procedure and you are responsible for choosing that provider.
If you want a proper second opinion consultation then you should schedule those as in person consultations. For a second opinion consultations patients should come prepared by bringing copies of the operative report and all before and after pictures.
Personally I’m not a big fan of high definition liposuction but it seems quite popular. i’ve been a board-certified plastic surgeon for 25 years. The last 10 years I’ve been devoted exclusively to doing only liposuction and fat transfer procedures. today’s I’ve done over 8000 liposuction procedures. 
Delivering consistent quality liposuction results is more difficult than most patients and plastic surgeons believe. define the most talented and experience provider as suggest patients have multiple in person consultations at which time you should ask the provider to show their entire collection of before and after pictures. Simply saying a handful of pre-selected sample pictures is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like in the hands of each provider. An experienced provider should have no difficulty showing you a minimum of 50 sets of before and after pictures. ask providers to show as many pictures as possible of patients with similar body characteristics to your own so you’ll know with good certainty what your results will look like.
An experienced and talented provider will be able to deliver consistent quality results based on each unique patient’s candidacy for the procedure.
Some patients are not good candidates for Liposuction and regardless who does the procedure they will not have quality results. Other patients are exceptional candidate but without choosing the correct provider results may not turn out the way they had hoped for and can turn out disfiguring if done by someone grossly lacking skill and experience.
Finding the most talented and experienced provider requires having multiple in person consultations with a proper vetting of each provider.
I also recommend patient read all the reviews on the various position review website avoiding providers for any significant number of justified negative reviews. The absence of justified negative reviews is more important and more telling than having an abundance of positive reviews.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD

Randy Dean, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

Hi and welcome to our forum!
From your photos, I note relative fullness of the abdomen. This may be due to residual abdominal fat or anterior abdominal muscle separation as the result of previous pregnancy, or a combination of both. An in-person physical examination is required to differentiate. 
In order to answer your question, we need to know how much fat was removed as well as your preoperative and postoperative weight. The former information can be obtained from your surgeon and the latter requires a scale...Weight gain after surgery is one of the main causes of surgical "failure". 
Revisit your plastic surgeon for reevaluation and discussion. 
Best wishes...

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