Which procedure combination would deliver the best results for my body? Providers are recommending different options (photos)

Hello @Phenomenal68234, thank you for your question. In my opinion as part of your surgical plan I suggest you take into account to have a tummy tuck and liposculture. Each procedure serves a different purpose, a tummy tuck is a surgical procedure that removes excess skin and fat from the middle and lower abdomen and strengthens the abdominal muscles, in which there is abdominal lipolysis, abdominal diastasis repair, skin removal with umbilical reconstruction depending on each case. On the other hand liposculture we take out fat from all parts of the body to make it more harmonious. The two procedures combine will give you the best results. Is important that you consult consult with several board certified plastic surgeon. If you are considering surgery, consultation with a plastic surgeon who is experienced in this procedure is essential to ensure optimal results. Best wishes! Alan Gonzalez MD, FACS. International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science” Member (IFATS), American Society of Plastic Surgery Member (ASPS), Colombian Society of Plastic Surgery member (SCCP)

Thank you for your question regarding what procedure combination would deliver the best results for your body. Thank you for your history and your pictures. In examining your pictures, you have excess skin and fat on the abdomen and the arms. Since you have excess skin. The best treatment is the removal of the skin, not liposuction. Therefore, in my opinion, I would suggest an arm lift and a tummy tuck. If you do liposuction, you are counting on the ability of your skin to retract. At your current age and weight, there is no guarantee that the skin will lie flat after liposuction. Indeed it may look worse rather than better. Therefore, I would highly suggest an arm lift/arm reduction combined with a tummy tuck for the best results. I hope this helps to answer your question regarding surgeries that will deliver the best results for your body.
Sincerely,
Dr. Katzen

You will need liposuction, bbl, arm lift, 360Tummy tuck, and fat transfer toThe hips, I think this will do the magic

Dear Phenomenal68234, Thank you for your question. After analyzing your case I can say you're a good candidate for Vaser Lipo + Tummy Tuck + BBL. I'm sure those procedures will give you an amazing result! Make sure you go on consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. Hope this helps and best of lucks. Dr. Luis Mejia.

Hi. As you can easily see in your pictures you are not candidate for a Lipo 360 since your abdominal muscles are really separated ( a condition named diastasis rectis ), you have a bulky abdomen with excessive skin and fat, which will not improve with lipo only. You have 40 pounds over weight, meaning a 1 degree 1 obesity which is a risk factor for surgery.
After loosing those pounds your are a good candidate for a Full Tummy Tuck Plus Lipo and BBL if needed or wanted. Do not believe for a second you may undergo Lipo and pretend to get good results.

Choosing the correct procedure it should be based on having a clear understanding of what the problem is. In other words the first step is to make a diagnosis and based on that you should choose the procedure.
Obesity is contributing significantly so weight loss should be you’re number one goal.
Whatever procedure you choose you’ll be a better candidate if you lose weight first.
This is especially true if you’re going to have a tummy tuck.
The decision of what procedure to have also depends what you’re trying to achieve and what you’re willing to go through.
There are four variables that determine what the abdomen looks like. In other words if someone doesn’t like the way their belly looks it is always because of one or more of these four variables.
The four variables are abdominal skin laxity typically due to previous pregnancies weight loss or potentially age. The second variable is excess subcutaneous fat. The third variable is muscle separation from previous pregnancies. this causes the abdominal wall to bulge. The last variable is excess visceral or intra-abdominal fat. Visceral fat also causes the abdominal wall of the bulge and it can only be reduced to weight loss. There is no surgical technique to reduce visceral fat.
Tummy tuck primarily treats abdominal skin laxity and muscle separation. Liposuction only addresses subcutaneous fat and visceral fat can only be reduced to weight loss.
You didn’t include your GYN history so we don’t know if you have potential muscle separation.
Based on your pictures I’m guessing that you have had previous term pregnancies.
In regards to the four variables I’m guessing do you have all four of them but skin laxity and subcutaneous fat are probably contributing the most.
You didn’t include a lateral or sideways pictures so it’s hard to tell how much bulging you have of your abdominal wall.
If you want the best result then the first step would be success for the weight loss preferably about 50 pounds.
Overweight individuals who have high volume liposuction often end up regaining wait after high volume liposuction procedure is still in a new fat distribution.
I think you’re an excellent candidate for arm liposuction.
Delivering consistent quality liposuction results is more difficult than most people believe. Individuals who don’t have the best track record with Liposuction will probably lean towards surgical solutions that avoid liposuction because they know they can always get results by cutting out skin and fat.
Ideally each consultation should go through the different four variables and tell you how much of the issue is related to skin, fat, muscle separation and visceral fat.You also have a lot of subcutaneous fat on your arms and I think liposuction of your arms would be the correct procedure though it will still leave you with skin laxity.
Take a look at some of my arm liposuction results posted under my profile on this website.
An arm lift leaves a really bad scar that most people don’t like.
Well done Liposuction could give you a very impressive reduction in arm size so you’ll still have some loose skin that will show when you lift your arms up. skin laxity on your arms will not show with your arms in the down position.
Finding providers who can do liposuction well on a consistent basis is not easy.
Most plastic surgeons are not that good at Liposuction.
To find a really talented provider you need to have a lot of consultations.
Anybody interested in liposuction I recommend they schedule a minimum of five in person consultations to start with and considering scheduling more.
During each consultation to bring with you pictures of your own body in a printed format. By the way pictures should also include a view it from your backside and your side.
Yes pictures of yourself for reference when reviewing before and after pictures.
During each consultation ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before and after pictures.
Ask providers to specifically only show you pictures of previous patients who had similar body characteristics to your own. This is true for any plastic surgery procedure.
Ask providers to show you examples of excellent results, average results and results that did not turn out as well as they had hoped. as providers with a revision rate and revision policy is.
Providers may be apprehensive to do this and it will instead of prefer to show you preselected images representing the best results of their career.
Well these pictures may look more impressive if they do not represent what the average results look like or how many of these procedures they’ve actually done.
It’s very important that you only look at before and after pictures of previous patients who had similar body characteristics to your own.
Excellent candidates for Liposuction have the potential of getting excellent results but can also get poor outcomes if the procedure is done by a surgeon who lacks skill and experience.
Somebody who’s not a good candidate for Liposuction is never going to have great results no matter who does the procedure.
The truth is the great majority of patients seeking liposuction are not perfect candidates. Most people are average candidates, some are less than average and some are above average.
In the end there are only two variables that determine liposuction results. Patient candidacy and the skill of the surgeon.
Both are probably equally as important.
Equality consultation should leave you knowing if you’re a good candidate for Liposuction or not. You should have a very clear understanding of what your results will look like being shown enough before and after pictures of patience to look just like you in the before pictures to know what the results will look like.
For a reference and experience provider should have no difficulty showing you at least 50 send some before and after pictures of commonly performed procedures like abdominal liposuction or a tummy tuck.
When it comes to Liposuction you need to also make sure you have a very clear understanding of exactly what areas will be included and what areas will not be included.
When reviewing before and after pictures look at all treated areas to make sure there are no skin contour irregularities in any of the treated areas. As the provider to point out exactly what areas for treated and what areas were not treated didn’t look very carefully at transition zone between treated and on treated areas.
As the provider to point out exactly what areas for treated and what areas were not treated didn’t look very carefully at transition zone between treated and on treated areas.
This is also very important when it comes to arm liposuction. is the surgeon going to do liposuction all the way around the arm? Are they going to go all the way up to the top of the deltoid or blend into the forearm?
Arm liposuction is technically more difficult than abdominal liposuction and they are young can easily be left with contour irregularities if you choose a provider who doesn’t have sufficient experience.
I mentioned this earlier but it is worth mentioning again. Delivering consistent quality liposuction results is more difficult than most people believe. The number of plastic surgeons you can leave consistent high-quality liposuction results including the ability to make accurate assessments and show sufficient before and after pictures to show you exactly what your results will look like it’s a relatively few.
Most plastic surgeons think they’re far better with Liposuction than they actually are.
Being board-certified and plastic surgery with years of experience and an overall good reputation does not mean that somebody has mastered liposuction.
Liposuction results are permanent and irreversible. If done poorly people are left disfigured.
I cannot emphasize enough the importance of properly vetting plastic surgeons when it comes to Liposuction.
The best recommendation is to successfully lose weight before considering cosmetic surgery.
If that isn’t going to happen then continue to move forward and have more consultations.
Take careful notes during each consultation about the overall thoroughness and especially about the quantity and quality of before and after pictures.
Bring printed copies of pictures of yourself to make sure providers are showing you examples of patients who look like you in the before pictures. The same overall size, same amount of skin laxity, same type of pregnancy related changes if applicable etc. etc.
The same is true for arm liposuction.
Most plastic surgeons limit liposuction during a Single procedure to less than 5 L of fat.
In the Florida state law limits fat removal to 4 L per procedure.
5 L of fat is about 8 to 10 pounds.
If someone weighs 200 pounds and has 5 L of fat removed they’ll still come out wing 180 pounds.
5 L is not sufficient to get the maximum effort from Liposuction treating the torso and arms on someone who weighs 200 pounds.
Based on your pictures I could probably remove 800-1200 cc of fat per arm.
This is one reason why weight loss before having surgery is to your advantage.
What successful weight loss I will no longer have subcutaneous fat as an issue. I do believe your arms have always been proportionately large.
There are a lot of variables to take into consideration. How important is having tight skin on your abdomen? How do you feel about having a hip to hip scar and unnatural looking belly button?
There’s nothing wrong with you having a tummy tuck and there’s nothing wrong with you having liposuction. Both procedures accomplish different things.
Making an assessment and determining and you understanding which valuable is having what impact on your body shape and contour is paramount in helping you make a quality decision.
Plastic surgeons who don’t have the best track record for liposuction will probably push you towards skin surgery like an arm lift or tummy tuck.
It may not be wrong to do with tummy tuck but providers who don’t do liposuction Weller are going to want to steer you away from doing liposuction because they know the results don’t turn out that well.
Providers were really good at liposuction should be able to show you what looks like an endless supply of quality before and after pictures of previous patients who look very similar to what you do in the before pictures.
If in doubt slow down and schedule more consultations.
Continue working on weight loss while you do.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD