Am I a good candidate for liposuction after a previous abdominoplasty and pregnancy? (photos)

Thank you for your question and congratulations on the baby. I think your a great candidate for liposuction. It will help contour the love handle area, reduce down the abdomen area and help with the overall shape. I would suggest a laser assisted liposuction to help with the skin retraction. I would also recommend speaking with a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in person to evaluate you and discuss your options. Best of luck to you.

Thank you for your question regarding if you were a good candidate for liposuction after a previous tummy tuck and pregnancy. By examining your photos, it looks like you have excess fat and not much excess skin. Therefore, I think you’d be a great candidate for liposuction. You may notice a bit of loose abdominal skin after your tummy tuck, but if you wear your compression garment as advised by your plastic surgeon, your stomach will likely snap back with the help of the muscle plication that was performed previously (during the tummy tuck). I think your butt would accept the fat very well, and you would be very happy with your results.

Sincerely, Dr. Katzen. (“Verified” Plastic Surgeon, President of the American Society of Bariatric Plastic Surgeons, certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Fellow of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, American College of Surgery, and International College of Surgery, and member of the American Society of Plastic Surgery, American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and RealSelf Hall of Fame.)

Dear Nena30,
it is hard to tell for sure without an examination. Based on your photos, it looks like you would benefit from liposuction. If you are considering surgery, I would suggest you 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

Based on these photos, it is very likely that aggressive liposuction of abdomen, flanks and lower back with moderate weight loss, would create desired improvement. Good luck.

From your photos it appears you are a good candidate for liposuction. This would address the fuller areas that concern you. An in person examination is always best, but it doesn't appear you have much skin laxity, so the liposuction should be sufficient for a nice improvement. See a board certified plastic surgeon near you to learn more.

Thank you for you question. It appears from your photos that you do not have very loose skin and that you would be a good candidate for liposuction. I would recommend that you use an adjunct such as the Vaser to help assure maximum skin tightening. Good luck.

The choice of procedure should be based on a thorough and accurate assessment or in other words a proper diagnosis.
Liposuction reduces subcutaneous fat only.
There are four variables that determine what the abdomen looks like. These are abdominal skin laxity, excess subcutaneous fat, muscle separation from previous pregnancies and excess visceral or intra-abdominal fat.
Your last pregnancy most likely added muscle separation that your tummy tuck had initially treated. he probably created mild skin laxity but not as much as pre-tummy tuck. Excess subcutaneous fat is probably not the primary component causing you to dislike your abdomen.
You can measure the thickness of subcutaneous fat yourself by gently putting your skin under tension and pushing one finger against your skin until you feel the underlying muscle wall. i’m going to guess that your subcutaneous fat layer is about 1/2 inch maybe 3/4 of an inch at most in some areas. Liposuction will not address skin laxity and will not address muscle separation. it will reduce your subcutaneous fat layer by 50%. this means it’ll bring in your abdomen by about 1/4 inch or slightly more.
On your backside you probably have a combination of skin laxity and some subcutaneous fat that’s contributing. there’s a transition zone between the front of your abdomen and your backside where the effect of the tummy tuck came to an end and you still have some skin laxity over around your waist.
Liposuction may be an option. The impact will be directly related to how much fat you have to remove and the impact of other variables like skin laxity.
In the end the answer to what is the best procedure it’s going to be based on what you’re trying to achieve and what you’re willing to go through.
If the issues are related to your last pregnancy and they are pregnancy related issues and those are treated with a tummy tuck not Liposuction.
Pregnancies do not change fat distribution. Pregnancies cause skin laxity and muscle separation.
You are not an ideal candidate for Liposuction but quality liposuction may give enough result to be justified.
Delivering consistent quality liposuction results including the ability to make accurate and predictable assessments is more difficult than most people believe.
Liposuction results vary drastically based on who does the procedure.
The number of plastic surgeons who are truly excellent and Liposuction is relatively scarce and finding one who is a true expert requires doing some research.
Simply being board-certified with an overall good reputation and several years of practice is not sufficient to confirm that somebody has mastered Liposuction.
It is a deceivingly difficult operation to do well consistently.
If you’re exclusively looking for Liposuction providers and find the most talented Liposuction provider in your community.
Do that by having multiple in person consultations.
Bring printed pictures of your own body for the consultation to use as a reference and comparison,Ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before and after pictures. being shown a handful of preselected images representing the best results of their career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like or how many procedures they’ve actually performed.
As providers only to show you pictures of patients who have similar body characteristics to your own.
I recognize that may be somewhat challenging since you’ve had pregnancies after having had a tummy tuck and that is somewhat unusual.
Still, seeing Liposuction results from patients who are ideal candidate(Young pudgy women who have not had children) is going to be a misrepresentation of what the procedure can accomplish.
Ask providers to show you examples of excellent results, average results and results that did not turn out as well as they had hoped. ask providers what the revision rate and revision policy is.
For reference and experience provider should have no difficulty showing you at least 50 sets of before and after pictures for abdominal liposuction.
Personally I recommend treating the torso as a single anatomic unit treating the entire torso in order to leave people with an even natural thin fat distribution.
Partially true the torso will inevitably leave people with transition sounds from treated to untreated areas that looks unnatural.
A full torso includes upper abdomen, lower abdomen, love handles, waist, full back and under arm area all the way to the side of the breast.
Do not rely on skin tightening treatment like bodytite , Renuvion, J plasma laser treatments etc. etc. etc. to deliver anything even noticeable Beyond what Liposuction can do alone.
Perhaps doing A tummy tuck skin only revision extending the excision a little bit across your hips may give good results without the recovery of muscle tightening.
Skin on the tummy tucks ab recovery consistent with Liposuction which is very tolerable. The difficult recovery from a tummy tuck comes primarily from muscle tightening and to some degree from dealing with drains. Limited skin surgery can be done without drains.
The surgeon will have a different approach and getting an accurate assessment will for sure require an in person consultation with physical examination.
Anybody who’s had previous cosmetic surgery should come prepared for consultations bringing with them before and after pictures and a copy of your previous operative Report if possible. You can ask your previous surgeon for copies of your medical records including all before and after pictures.
I recommend having multiple in person consultations with local providers to get an accurate assessment and better understanding of treatment options.
You are not a perfect candidate for Liposuction but Liposuction in the hands of a really talented surgeon may give enough results to justify the procedure.
If you choose Liposuction then be very selective in who you choose as your surgeon.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD