Am I a good candidate for Smart Lipo? (Photo)

When your belly skin is wrinkled, removing the fat underneath the skin with liposuction will only make it wrinkle more and look older - not something you want. The only way to tighten skin that is as loose as yours is with a tummy tuck. If you fear general anesthesia, fear not. Full tummy tucks with skin and muscle tightening can be done safely and effectively under twilight anesthesia in combination with tumescent local anesthesia. Twilight anesthesia is the same anesthesia that is used for colonoscopy and many breast implant procedures. It is also known as intravenous sedation or monitored anesthesia care (MAC) and is conducted in our facility by board certified anesthesiologists.

Hello Pionerring 742783,
Thank you for your question. Judging by the photographs and that you said your skin is stretched, a tummy tuck would probably be the correct procedure. However, an in-person examination with several experienced, qualified surgeons would give you a more accurate assessment.
Good luck,
Dr. Adam Kinal

Pioneering Thank you for sharing your photos. From your photos I can see you have a little extra belly fat and some loose skin. Liposuction with a laser or plasma skin tightening with an experienced surgeon can give you nice result. Of course a tummy tuck / abdominoplasty will probably give you the most skin retraction, but tummy tucks are almost always performed with general anesthesia and will leave with a large scar from hip to hip. While there are always trade offs, using energy devices like Laser or Plasma energy device like Renuvion can assist with skin tightening that may give up to 2/3 of the skin tightening seen with a tummy tuck. Wishing you the best of health.

SmartLipo Triplex™️ is the most advanced laser-assisted lipolysis system available. This unique technology safely delivers the optimal blend of three laser wavelengths for better fat removal and enhanced tissue tightening.You can send us a message with better pictures for a proper consultation. For what I can see you have fat and skin laxity and when you we do Smartlipo we remove fat and treat the skin from the inside for tightening. If you lose more weight, the skin will be in worse conditions (more laxity) and will be more difficult to treat.

Great question! Liposuction removes fat only, meaning no skin or stretch marks are being surgically removed. Fat cells can safely be suctioned from your tummy to create an overall smaller appearance, but there is a risk of looser skin. Smart Lipo does involve a skin tightening technique, which could be a good option for you! I recommend scheduling a consultation to be evaluated as well as discuss your overall goals.

The abdomen area has several factors going on. With pregnancies you have stretching of the abdominal wall (or even separation) and of the skin. In addition to subcutaneous fat (fat you can pinch), everyone also has visceral fat (below the abdominal muscle) in varying degress which cannot be liposuctioned.
So, an exam is essential to evaluate all of these factors. A tummy tuck may ultimately be necessary for a desired result. My recommendation is to get an in-person consult.

Thank you for your question. You look like you could benefit from Smartlipo. You do have some loose skin and stretch marks. The surgery will remove the fat from your abdomen and you will get some skin retraction. The amount of retraction you get will depend on how your collagen responds to the surgery. It will not be as flat as a tummy tuck, but those are usually done under general anesthesia. The Smartlipo under tumescent anesthesia seems to be a good option for you. Good luck with your journey.

By looking at your photographs, it appears that you require liposuction of the flank area, also known as the muffin top, and the abdomen. However, you should definitely have an in person consultation to determine if there’s a great deal of looseness of the skin. If the looseness of the skin is moderate to mild, you can have a Renuvion procedure for tissue tightening, combined with liposuction. On the other hand, if The looseness of the skin is severe, you will benefit greatly from a tummy tuck. For neither of those procedures you need general anesthesia. Even with tummy tucks, which is probably one of the biggest procedures, our patients have no postoperative pain and no drain tubes. This way they can drive a car in less than a week. With liposuction and Renuvion it’s even a lot easier. I hope this helps and good luck from New York City Plastic Surgery.

The answer to your question is somewhere between yes, and no. Rarely are individuals perfect candidates or not candidates for Liposuction. In reality, most people fall somewhere on a spectrum. On that spectrum, you are average or just below average when it comes to candidacy for Liposuction.
Ideal candidates for liposuction have only subcutaneous fat as the only reason making their bodies look less than perfect. Individuals who are variables, other than subcutaneous fat, are going to have limited outcomes, because only subcutaneous fat is changed by having liposuction. There are four variables to determine what the abdomen looks like. In other words, if somebody doesn’t like the way there a belly looks it is always because of one or more of four different tissue reasons.
Before variables are abdominal skin laxity due to pregnancy, excess subcutaneous fat, muscle separation from previous pregnancy, and excess of visceral or intra-abdominal fat.
In your case, you have a typical pregnancy related changes which are skin, Laxcity and muscle separation, and this will not be treated by Liposuction.
You are an excellent candidate for a full tummy tuck, and a modest candidate at best for Liposuction.
In the end a lot depends on what you’re trying to achieve. If you want a tight flat abdomen, then you need a tummy tuck. If you just want to reduce the subcutaneous, fat layer, and Liposuction will do that. You’re not a chubby person and you don’t have a thick layer of fat, so Liposuction is not going to have all that much impact.
Delivering consistent quality, Liposuction results is more difficult than most people believe. The number of plastic surgeons who truly mastered this procedure is relatively small and patients should seek out to find the best providers bye have a multiple in person consultations.
Doing Liposuction as an awake, procedure requires providers have skill and experience doing awake Liposuction. There is a learning curve to doing these procedures without causing undo pain and discomfort.
I suggest having multiple in person, consultations with local board-certified plastic surgeons to get an accurate assessment and better understanding of treatment options.
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 for whatever procedure you are contemplating. An experienced provider should have no difficulty showing you the before and after pictures of at least 50 previous patients.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom, MD