Is no weight loss after 7 liters of fat removal through liposuction normal?

Question

After serious back injury few years ago, could barely walk. Lack of exercise & medication, gained 50 lbs. lost 15 lbs with acupuncture and dieting. Still had huge belly. Underwent liposuction last week. I looooove the results. Huge mass of fat removed from belly and flanks and back - 7-9 liters. But weight only decreased by 1 lb. Most liquid has already been drained. I know lipo is not a weight loss technique, but fat, although light does have one weight. Where has it gone?

Ajay Mahajan, MD, FRCS (Plast) · Answer

Liposuction is a body contouring technique and not a treatment for reducing excess weight. Although you might have had a lot of fat sucked out, there is bound to be significant tissue swelling following the procedure. As the swelling gradually settles, you will notice the reduction of your weight too, in proportion to the amount of far removed.

Stephen T. Greenberg, MD, FACS · Answer

Congratulations on your surgery.  You are correct you will not see much weight loss even with 7-9 liters of fat removed.  You will see that you have gone down in inches though.  I would suggest when it's proper time after surgery re start your working out to the best of your abilities and low carb diet will hopefully help with the weight loss process.  Best of luck to you.

Miguel Delgado, MD · Answer

Liposuction is meant for body sculpting, not weight loss. However, you are still recovering from your surgery and you may see more weight dropped once the swelling has all dissipated and that may be several more weeks. Good luck.

Kenneth Hughes, MD · Answer

You will likely only lose a few pounds from the liposuction procedures. You will experience bloating and fluid build-up following the procedure.  The purpose of liposuction is to remove the fat from problem areas in your body, thereby contouring your physique for a more pleasing physique.  As the swelling resolves, the fluid is replaced by fat in the non-lipo areas.Kenneth Hughes, MD, Board Certified Plastic SurgeonLos Angeles, CA

Charles Nduka, MD · Answer

Generally, liposuction does not really have a significant effect on the overall body weight, this is because liposuction removes excess fats from a specific body part and would therefore be of little influence to the over all weight of the patient. Liposuction contours the body, it does not significantly decrease weight.

David Azouz, MD, FACS, FRCS(C) · Answer

Weight loss after liposuction surgery can lag because of swelling.  Excellent measures of the improvement with liposuction is the girth of the abdomen measured by the circumference or pant size.  This can be more dramatic than the weight loss because fat itself is light and not dense.  Remember that a pound of rocks and a pound of feathers weigh the same amount but the density of the material affects the volume per weight ratio.

Kiran Polavarapu, MD · Answer

You are correct. Liposuction is not a weight loss procedure. In fact, it is more of a "contouring" technique. You may lose inches, but you may not see a huge difference on the scale. Also remember that fat removed also includes saline that was used in the "tumescent" solution to aid in the liposuction. Swelling also results that can add to the scale that takes months to resolve.

Is no weight loss after 7 liters of fat removal through liposuction normal?

Answers (7)

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