Post-Lipo - What would be the best procedure (and most bang for the buck) to hopefully address all of these issues? (photos)

One of the most common questions we address is how long it takes to look good after surgery. Liposuction is a procedure that shows some results almost instantly but the final result takes 6-9 months or so. It's an evolution, a marathon not a sprint. Massage and time will work out a lot of the contour irregularities you see now but give it a minimum of six months before judging results. I find that lymphatic massage and infrared therapy do very well to move things along for my patients after liposuction.

Dear armendys,
I would have to examine you but it appears that this is a contour irregularity after liposuction. This happens often when areas the undergo liposuction are not feathered appropriately.
The good news is that it can be fixed and I have done so with good results before. While there is always a chance for contour irregularities with liposuction, someone who takes their time and uses the appropriate sized cannulas should give you a superb result.I have all my patients wear compression garments and I use multiple sized cannulas to feather out the result.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

You are too early to discuss this since you still have swelling. Once you are at 6 months from the procedure, then discuss your concerns with your surgeon. Right now, micro-needling with radiofrequency could be helpful, especially for your skin.

Contour irregularities can sometimes occur with liposuction. Depending on severity minor touch ups can improve the results. Skin laxity is best addressed through a tummy tuck which will remove excess skin. The contour irregularities could be addressed as well. See a board certified plastic surgeon near you to determine if you are a candidate.

You have very minor issues. The challenge is that sometimes "touching up" the higher areas may make them worse. The loose skin is either genetic, or the result of childbirth or weight gain/loss. Nothing really tightens the skin very well.
Morpheus * is the latest technology that boasts skin tightening and requires several (3-5) treatments under local (topical) anesthesia.
best wishes.
Dr. Taranow

At three months your results are pretty close to final so this is the outcome of your liposuction results. To make an assessment on the outcome of a procedure we always need to see proper before and after pictures. If you don’t have before and after pictures don’t ask your surgeon to forward the ones they took.
It looks like your Liposuction left your fat distribution on even which is a direct reflection of your provider not having sufficient skill and experience.
Delivering consistent quality liposuction results is more difficult than most people believe. The number of plastic surgeons who do liposuction well on a consistent basis and can’t deliver predictable results based on review of previous before and after pictures of similar patients it’s a relatively rare and few.
Doing liposuction well is far more difficult than most people think including plastic surgeons.
Most plastic surgeons think they’re better at Liposuction than they actually are.
To get a normal fat distribution it will require revision to work.
Luckily you were not grossly over treated in which case revision work becomes almost impossible.
Revision work is however much more difficult to do well then primary Liposuction.
It’s one thing to take an even fat distribution, reduce it with Liposuction and keep it even. I already mention that is actually quite difficult and the number of plastic surgeons to do it well is relatively scarce. taken an uneven fat distribution and making it even is many times more difficult.
I’m trying to think of a good analogy but how about restoring an old worn out car versus restoring a car that was in a massive collusion.
The contour irregularities that you see and are visible on the pictures are eliminated once to medicine solution is injected into the fat which is necessary to do the procedure.
Each individual problem area needs to be isolated and marked off with the surgeon estimating how much more or less fat needs to be removed from each area in order to anticipate getting an improved outcome.
The choice of provider is paramount when opting for Liposuction. For revision of work provider selection is even more critical.
Generally the best surgeons to do revision work are the same surgeons who do the best primary work.
To find the best surgeon I recommend patients have multiple in person consultations with local board-certified plastic surgeons who seem to have a proven track record or specialize in Liposuction.
I recommend patients beginning with at least five in person consultations but for revision of work you may need to have more consultations depending on how well you preselect providers who truly are great at Liposuction.
Bring pictures of your own body for reference. In your case you should bring before and after pictures and a copy of your operative report for any second opinion consultation.
During each consultation ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before and after pictures for abdominal liposuction. Providers may be apprehensive to do this and I will preferred to show you their “best of their career” preselected images.
This is however insufficient for the patient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like or how many of these procedures they’ve actually performed.
You need to be insistent that you need to see a lot of examples of patients who have similar body characteristics to your own.
Push providers to show you as many pictures as they can and if they can’t then that’s a red flag and you simply go on to the next consultation.
For reference and experience provider should have no difficulty showing you at least 50 sets up before and after pictures of commonly performed procedures like abdominal liposuction. Highly experienced surgeons will have 100s or even thousands of Liposuction before and after pictures since this is a common procedure.
Look very carefully at all the pictures to make sure there are no Cantoria regularities anywhere on any of the pictures. Ask the surgeons to point out specifically what areas were treated and what areas were not treated. Look carefully at transition zone between treated and on treated areas to make sure they looked completely natural.
Ask providers to show you examples of excellent results, average results and results that did not turn out as well as they had hoped.
We all have a variety of different types of outcomes and it’s fair game for patients to ask to see them.
Ask specifically what each surgeons revision rate and revision policy is.
Having a High Revision Red is not necessarily bad. It acknowledges that this surgeon is willing to make things the best that they possibly can.
Plastic surgeons who never do revisions leave patients with subject optimal results that could easily be improved with a simple touchup procedure.
Obviously if 25% of their patients end up having revisions there may also be an issue.
Your results are probably fairly typical for that provider and that’s the provider you chose.
Most people are not experienced inventing plastic surgeons or having cosmetic surgery consultations.
Plastic surgeons on the other hand are very experienced giving consultations and I’ve been usually doing it for years.
You’ll get better at consulting with plastic surgeons with practice. The goal should always be to find the best provider for the procedure you’re looking for.
This means you have to interview a substantial number of providers.
It’s no different than interviewing contractors for a kitchen remodel and getting different price quotes from different builders.
The key difference is that you have to learn to discern quality results from results showing providers Who lack skill and experience.
Some plastic surgeons don’t like doing liposuction. A significant percentage of plastic surgeons think of liposuction as a simplistic procedure with a little learning curve.
Liposuction is in fact a very complex procedure that is difficult to master and if people don’t recognize this they will never be critical of their own results or push themselves to master Liposuction. with the repeated mediocre results the procedure becomes an interesting and providers simply steer people towards tummy tucks or try not to do liposuction unless they need to.
I would say most plastic surgeons do not find liposuction to be in the top category of procedures they enjoy doing.
There are however plastic surgeons who specialize exclusively in the procedure and can deliver consistent quality outcomes including the ability to make accurate and predictable assessments.
You need to find those providers and take it from there.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD