Revision warranted? Or what are my options here? I've had 6 lymphatic massages and a Venus Legacy treatment thus far

Question

I'm about 6 months post-op I'm active, train hard and already decently muscular. Firstly, my low abdomen now has this asymmetrical ridge (left and right sides do not look similar). I thought this would have a more flat appearance by now. My incisions all healed differently. 1 healed great and the other 4 are so noticeable depending on lighting. Additionally my flanks did not change much at all. Doc now saying its due to skin laxity

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear throwaway84,
I understand your concern. However, without a proper assessment, it would be difficult to determine what went wrong. It is best that you visit your plastic surgeon for further assessment or ask for a second opinion. Only after a thorough examination, you can get proper recommendations and advice.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

To assess the outcome of a surgical procedure we need to see quality before and after pictures. If we don’t know what you look like before hand that it’s hard to assess the outcome especially when you have concerns like folds or streaks.

It’s very important that all photographs are taken with the arms and exactly the same position because that changes how the skin drapes the torso significantly.

Love handles do not improve as much in male torso liposuction as they do on the female body.

The skin tends to bulge out when it drops and removing the fat in this area tends to cause the skin to drop a little bit. Sometimes it can even make the skin hangover the beltline worse than before the fat was removed.

This is especially true for anybody who has any skin laxity due to a history of even mild wait fluctuations or age related lack of skin elasticity.

It’s hard to get homerun results doing liposuction on the love handles of men unless they are ideal candidates.

Even then I usually set expectations on the low side during my consultations.

My practice has been devoted exclusively to doing only liposuction and fat transfer procedures for about 12 years.  i’ve been a board-certified plastic surgeon for over 20 years.

To date I’ve done over 8000 liposuction procedures.

After a while you start seeing certain consistent patterns and the love handles behaves differently in men than it does in women.  personally I believe it has to do with men having a smaller pelvis and a larger chest.

Regardless to assess if there’s fat left to remove pull up on the skin above the area of concern then take one finger and gently push until you feel the muscle while. The skin is thick in this area and removing all the fat usually just leads to secondary problems.

When it comes to Liposuction if doing the procedure didn’t fix it the first time it is unlikely to get improved by doing it again.

Revision surgery is indicated when results are on even or someone simply did not remove sufficient amounts of fat and that doesn’t look like the case with you but without seeing before pictures we really can’t make any assessments.

If you don’t have before and after pictures then ask your provider to forward the ones they took.

If you want a proper second opinion consultation and then schedule in person consultations for the other local board-certified plastic surgeons. If you’re up for doing that then come prepared and bring a before and after pictures and a copy of the operative report which is also available to you from your current provider.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD

Revision warranted? Or what are my options here? I've had 6 lymphatic massages and a Venus Legacy treatment thus far

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Revision warranted? Or what are my options here? I've had 6 lymphatic massages and a Venus Legacy treatment thus far

Answers (2)

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Everything you need to know about Smart Lipo

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.