Line on my stomach after Vaser Liposuction - what should I try next? (photos)

Question

I’m 23, a healthy weight. I had Vaser Liposuction on my abdomen 4 months ago and almost straight away I noticed this horizontal line on my stomach. I thought it would go away but it hasn’t and I feel I am now nearly fully healed. I had 3 sessions of ultrasound lymphatic drainage after my procedure. What should I try next? Micro needling, laser, PRP, Mesotherapy?

Jerimiah Mason, MD · Answer

It is certainly hard to tell just with photos, but this looks like something that can happen if a patient has lipo done and doesn't consistently wear their compression garment after surgery. Or if the garment wasn't tight enough. I typically tell my lipo patients to wear the garment for at least 6 weeks, 24/7 in the beginning, then they can start taking it off at night. It would be hard to explain this horizontal line otherwise, unless the surgeon used access points on the side of your abdomen somewhere. If this is indeed scarred down at this point, I would suggest having another procedure performed to detach the skin from the underlying muscle, such as using a liposuction cannula without suction. Then making sure to wear a compression garment for several weeks as often as possible.

Anuj Purbey, MBBS · Answer

I would suggest start with your surgeon. Ask your surgeon what he feels the best option for you will be.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

To make an assessment on the outcome of a cosmetic procedure we always need to see before and after pictures.
If you don’t have a proper before and after pictures then contact your surgeon and ask them to forward the ones they took.
Did your doctor mention anything about using high definition liposuction or a term called etching?
Some plastic surgeons purposely make lines on the abdomen to try to mimic muscle intersections.
Regardless your outcome is a direct reflection of how the procedure was performed and it is now a representation of what your fat distribution is based on how the liposuction was performed.
Postoperative treatments that are non-surgical are not going to have any impact on your fat distribution.
The results of liposuction are 100% determined at the end of the procedure. Postoperative treatment does not change liposuction results.
There are generally two variables that determine Liposuction outcomes.
The first is patient candidacy and the second is the skill and experience of the provider.
Delivering consistent quality liposuction results is more difficult than most people believe.
Being board-certified and plastic surgery with years of experience and an overall good reputation does not mean somebody has mastered Liposuction.
A substantial number of people including plastic surgeons are under the false belief that Liposuction is a simplistic procedure with a lower learning curve.
There is unfortunately a lot of bad liposuction being done and unfortunately a substantial number of highly trained well intended board-certified plastic surgeons seem to not be able to do the procedure well on a consistent basis.
This does not mean that there aren’t plenty of talented plastic surgeons who do a great job with Liposuction and can do the procedure well on a regular basis.
Unfortunately liposuction results are permanent and irreversible.
Sometimes improvements can be made but much of this depends on how aggressive the procedure was in the first place.
With high definition for catching the goal is generally to remove all the fat and muscle intersections.
Those type of lines that are created purposely are very difficult to reverse.
Because there is so much variation in liposuction results among different providers that suggest patients be extremely cautious when it comes to choosing providers for this procedure.
I generally recommend patients have a minimum of five in person consultations before choosing a provider.
During each consultation 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 a provider‘s career is totally insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like or how many of these procedures they have actually performed.
For reference and experience provider should have no difficulty showing you at least 50 sets of before and after pictures of commonly performed procedures like abdominal liposuction
As providers to show your only pictures of previous patients who had very similar body characteristics to your own.
You should also ask providers to show you examples of excellent outcomes, average outcomes and outcomes that didn’t turn out as well as they had hoped.
Providers may be apprehensive to do this but you were the one paying for the surgery and you have a right as a consumer to see a variety of results especially to see a sufficient number of before and after pictures to get a clear understanding of what average results look like and how many of these procedures any one provider has performed.
If you have any doubts about the confidence and experience of the surgeon then simply slow down and schedule more consultations.
For revision work recognize that revision work is far more difficult and sometimes revision improvements are not even possible.Considering that revision Liposuction is far more difficult than primary Liposuction and the importance of finding only the best providers becomes even greater.
It’s basically the same process as finding a provider for primary Liposuction but this time you’re asking them to show you examples of revision work.
Revisions for improving liposuction results is easier if patients were not treated aggressively with an uneven fat distribution during the first procedure.
The most difficult result to improve on are always going to be people who have an uneven fat distribution from an aggressive first liposuction procedure.
Treatment options generally come down to revision liposuction(removing more fat) fat transfer(adding fat by fat grafting) or a combination of both.
For a vision work do not expect providers to have nearly as many before and after pictures sense revision work is not as common.
Liposuction should be viewed as a permanent and irreversible operation and patients should be extremely selective in choosing providers for their procedure.
One’s done patients need to except the fact that improving the outcomes is sometimes not possible though in some cases significant improvements could be potentially made.
To make an assessment regarding the ability to improve your outcome will definitely require an in person consultation.
I generally recommend patients avoid virtual consultations and I generally recommend against traveling long distances for elective surgical procedures.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD

Line on my stomach after Vaser Liposuction - what should I try next? (photos)

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Line on my stomach after Vaser Liposuction - what should I try next? (photos)

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Everything you need to know about Vaser Liposuction

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