Can touch up lipo correct irregularities without fat transfer? (photo)

Question

I had 360 lipo done 18 months ago and am very please with the back/flanks but have an indentation on my lower left side and remaining lower belly pooch above my c section scar. Can touch up lipo correct this without fat transfer? I do not scar well and the scars on my abdomen are from gallbladder removal. Therefore I’d like to have a revision of some sort done in a minimally invasive manner. My original surgeon said he could do touch up lipo around the indentation to make it appear less apparent

Gerald Minniti, MD, FACS · Answer

Your photos are insufficient to reveal the issue you see, but they do reveal abdominal skin laxity that will never look good with either liposuction alone or with some 'skin tightening' add on. Your scars from other surgeries have no predictive value on how good a tummy tuck scar can be. And I mean 'good' as in virtually imperceptible. This is because a properly performed tuck will place the scar very very low at the border of your belly and pubis at the midline, and sweep up laterally along the thigh-abdomen border. Measures would be taken both in the operating room and after to minimize scar appearance as well. The recovery from a tummy tuck without concomitant liposuction is essentially no different from 360 liposuction.  Those scars can also be revised so that are far less prominent, and the midline vertical scar would likely be removed along with the surrounding skin.

David Hansen, MD · Answer

A touch up  lipo is so easy to  undergo and makes a huge improvement but does even better  if you can  get  bodytite and morpheus at the same time.

Camille Cash, MD · Answer

Touch up liposuction can be done to tweak your results. Often this can be done under local anesthesia in the office surgical suite.  Your surgeon can evaluate your concerns to determine if more liposuction would address the concerns.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

This response was dictated. I apologize for any potential grammatical errors.
To make an accurate assessment regarding the outcome of any plastic surgery procedure we generally need to see a complete set of proper before and after pictures.
If you don’t have before and after pictures and ask your surgeon to forward the pictures they took.
It’s hard to tell from the picture you’ve included What the contour irregularity represents.
It looks like there may be a natural skinfold along your mid abdomen possibly related to mild skin laxity from previous pregnancy? Delivering consistent quality liposuction results is more difficult than most people realize.
Revision work is generally more complicated, complex and difficult than primary procedure.
 It’s important to differentiate if too much that has been removed, or if there is surrounding access fat that can be removed to improve the contour.
Attempts at improving the contour by removing fat, can make things worse if the first treatment was aggressive.
Your situation is sufficiently complex that it warrants an in person evaluation if you want to quality assessment.
Overall the results don’t look bad, but we don’t have before pictures so we can’t really make an assessment regarding the overall outcome.
Correcting poorly down, Liposuction is generally quite difficult, and only modest improvements are generally possible.
If the primary procedure was done in an aggressive manner, then revision work becomes more difficult.
If the primary procedure was done in a mild or moderate fashion, leaving sufficient fat to work with then improvements are you usually Possible and easier.
Even mild skin laxity can decrease somebody’s candidacy for liposuction, and this can easily be seen as contour irregularities based on how the skin drapes the torso.
To get an accurate assessment of the thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer I suggest putting the skin under mild tension by pulling it up above the area of concern with one hand guide
With the skin under tension. You can take one finger and gently press against the skin until you feel the underlying muscle wall.
Try doing this with your eyes closed and see if you can feel the thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer being even or uneven.
 This is a much more accurate way of determining if Liposuction was done well in the presence of potential mild skin laxity.
Ideal candidates for Liposuction are generally young individuals with tight skin.
As people lose Liposuction candidacy from age or any source of skin laxity, potential quality results will decrease.
Viewing results as technically imperfect when in fact, a patient was a slightly less than ideal candidate for liposuction is a common scenario.
It’s very important to differentiate between a true discrepancy in subcutaneous fat layer versus other contributing variables.
Understanding these different variables, dictates if revision is indicated, and if revision is going to have an impact.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom, MD

Can touch up lipo correct irregularities without fat transfer? (photo)

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