What type of Liposuction non GA is available for me? 36 YO, female, height @ 162cm, weight @ 50kg and waist around 73cm.

I do not perform liposuction under local anesthesia. For liposuction under general anesthesia, I charge $4,000 for 1 hour or $7,000 for 2 hours. It appears you may benefit from 1 hour of liposuction.

Best Wishes,

Gary Horndeski, M.D.

First, much or most of your abdominal protuberance is muscle laxity due to rectus separation. Although liposuction will help, you will not have your pre-baby abdomen. Further, factors that can't be seen in your pics like skin laxity might make the results from liposuction without some skin removing surgery a problem. You should be examined by a surgeon who is able to offer you more than just liposuction. Finally, assuming you have no significant health issues, you are young so general anesthesia is safer than driving a car.

You would do well with liposuction of the abdomen and flanks. This could be done with your asleep or in the office as awake liposuction. Costs vary depending upon where you live. I would suggest meeting with a board-certified plastic surgeon in your area and discuss your concerns.

Based on your photos it appears you have abdominal wall laxity, which is common after pregnancy. The correction for this is a tummy tuck with muscle repair which would get you the flatter stomach you want. You may be a candidate for BodyTite which offers liposuction and skin tightening with no general anesthesia required. This will remove excess subcutaneous fat but will not address the abdominal wall laxity. An exam and discussion of your goals is needed to determine if this is a good option for you.

By just looking at your photos and the medical history of your previous birth I would advise having a mini or traditional tummy tuck as well as the full body liposuction, because it looks like you have a diastasis recti and that gives you the bloated abdominal look, and not because of abdominal fat. In order to go back to your flat abdomen a muscle repair and internal corset must be done, and to get even a better result the full body liposuction can be done as well as achieve an abdominal definition being a soft or HD definition. Also using your own fat in order to augment your butt and hips to give you a better body contouring overall. You can schedule your free virtual consultation and continue your specific case assessment.

I see two parts to your question. The first is regarding making an accurate assessment and choosing the correct procedure and the second part is related to Liposuction.
In regards to the front of the abdomen, there are four tissue variables that determine what the abdomen looks like.
When choosing a procedure, it’s important to have a clear understanding of which of these tissue variables represents the underlying problem.
Nobody wants to have a tummy tuck, but if subcutaneous fat is not the problem, and Liposuction is not the correct solution.
That said, sometimes choosing a less than perfect procedure may be acceptable, but don’t expect to get the full benefit of the more correct operation.
The four tissue variables that determine what the 1) abdomen looks like our abdominal skin laxity typically due to previous pregnancies or significant weight loss. 2) The next variable is excess subcutaneous fat. (pregnancies do not change someone’s fat distribution). 3) muscle separation from previous pregnancies a.k.a. diastasis recti. 4) excess visceral or intra-abdominal fat.
If you’re concerned about to change that the pregnancy had, then you should understand the changes that pregnancies Indus and women’s bodies.
Pregnancies create abdominal skin laxity, and or muscle separation.
These are both conditions best treated with a full tummy tuck.
It’s important to understand the thickness of your subcutaneous fat layer in relationship to your abdominal wall. Liposuction will only improve your abdomen to the degree you have fat available to remove.
Based on your pictures, I’m guessing your subcutaneous fat layer of your mid abdomen is about half an inch. This means the most your abdomen is going to come in from Liposuction is 1/2 inch.
Your abdominal wall is bulging, and this is most likely due to muscle separation. Excess visceral fat can also make the abdominal wall bulge. I recognized that a lot of women choose not to have a full tummy tuck, and that’s perfectly acceptable. It is, however important to recognize that Liposuction may only give you unlimited improvements and that’s subcutaneous fat and not the underlying primary problem.
In regards to what type of Liposuction to choose I recommend you focus all your efforts on the provider and not the type of Liposuction. In reality, all forms of liposuction, use more or less the same small stainless steel cannula connected to a source of vacuum.
The type of anesthesia is irrelevant to the type of liposuction being done.
Some plastic surgeons have the training and feel comfortable doing liposuction with patience, awake while others prefer to use general anesthesia primarily because they don’t have skill and experience with doing a major liposuction without an anesthesiologist.
During the first half of my career, I did all major Liposuction using general anesthesia. Halfway through my career I learned how to do these procedures keeping patients awake using primarily local anesthesia with mild sedation. There is a significant learning curve when it comes to learning how to do major liposuction with patients awake keeping them from having excessive pain.
Awake, Liposuction can be uncomfortable the carrier and the hands of a sufficiently experienced provider. It is definitely doable, and in my opinion the preferred way of doing liposuction if the surgeon has the skill and experience.
Delivering consistent quality, liposuction, results is more difficult than most people realize. The number of plastic surgeons have truly mastered at this procedure or in a small minority. Being board-certified in plastic surgery with years of experience, and an overall good reputation does not mean somebody has mastered Liposuction, or is even good at it.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of provider selection when it comes to having this permanent reversible body contouring procedure.
Poorly done Liposuction can’t easily leave people disfigured, and these results are irreversible.
to get an accurate assessment, and better understanding of what each procedure can, and cannot accomplish, as well as finding the right provider I suggest having multiple in person consultations.
there’s no correct number of consultations needed to find the right provider. The more consultations, you have the more likely you are to find the best provider, get a good understanding of your candidacy, and understand what each procedure can, and cannot accomplish.
I recommend patients avoid virtual consultations whenever possible, and instead schedule in person consultations, preferably with local plastic surgeons.
During each consultation, ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before, and after pictures of previous patients who have similar body characteristics to your own. This should include an assessment of each of the above at four tissue variables.
An experienced plastic surgeon that should have no difficulty showing you the before and after pictures of at least 50 previous patients. Being shown a handful of preselected images, representing the best results of a providers career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what the average results look like in the hands of each provider. Being shown pictures of patients with different body characteristics then your own is not helpful and understanding with your results are likely to look like.
Take careful notes during each consultation, especially regarding the quantity and quality of before and after pictures shown.
There’s no correct number of consultations needed to find the right provider. The more consultations you have the more likely you are to find the best provider.
While patients may have preferences, regarding the type of anesthesia, you should recognize that having liposuction under local anesthesia can potentially be uncomfortable and if the surgeon lacks efficient training may be very painful.
Make sure your surgeons have years of experience doing Liposuction with patience, awake and asked him specifically with the level of discomfort maybe during the procedure.
In my opinion, it’s far more important that you choose a surgeon with sufficient skill and experience with Liposuction then what form of anesthesia they use.
In the end, Liposuction may or may not get you the results you’re looking for. It will most likely not get you a flat pre-pregnancy abdomen. Whether Liposuction gives enough improvement to justify having the procedure is something you need to discuss during in person consultations. Most postpartum women’s primary concern is the front of the abdomen, and this is the area where Liposuction will have the least impact. Your love handles waist and back are the areas where Liposuction has the greatest potential of improving your contour.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom, MD