What is the best option for removal of abdominal fat? I am 58 years old, 5'3", 170 lbs

Hello and that you for your question.
As long as your health is good I see no reason that you can not have a tummy tuck. Consult with a board certified plastic surgeon to discuss your options. Best wishes!

if you have loose skin you will need skin removal. if not liposuction + internal heating will suffice.

my whole practice is doing lipoabdominoplasty, or at least liposuction with internal heating (which is not the gold standard for skin tightening with body contouring).

the smaller you are before liposuction the more contouring you can get from the procedure. most of my liposuction patients get pre and post surgical optimization with hormonal therapy (see link to help boost their weight loss before surgery and help them heal after).

You need a formal evaluation by an expert in body shaping and contouring to determine what is best.  Traditional liposuction awake and smart liposuction are old methods and do very poorly for tightening skin or significant skin tightening or contouring.  Small problem areas can be improved slightly by these methods.  The best in body contouring not only removes fat with energy devices like VASER ultrasound but also internally heat the skin with radio-frequency devices such as J PLASMA/RENUVION, InMode BodyTite, ThermiRF to heat the under surface of the skin and tighten it at the same time as fat removal. These combinations are called 4D HIDEF VASER contouring and can only be done by a well . trained body contouring specialist. At the same time fat should be harvested, PRP and stem cells added and injected into muscles or indentations/cellulite to get body shaping and contouring.  This is known as a Brazilian butt lift when you inject the fat to the buttock for contouring and lifting, but fat can also be used in areas such as the chest/breast, arms/shoulders, calves and face.  Cellulite should also be treated with cellfina, sculptra, subcision and/or fillers such as bellafill, renuva synthetic fat, or sculptra.  If skin is very loose before surgery then it will need to be removed such as lower abdominal skin (tummy tuck/abdominoplasty), breast skin (breast lift), arm skin (brachioplasty).  Overall you need a full assessment, but simple liposuction alone will not tighten skin and needs a combination of various methods -- fat removal, skin tightening, defining, fat grafting, skin removal -- to get the best in body contouring and body sculpting.  Dr. Emer.

Your best option and recommended solution is weight loss.

At 5 foot three and 175 pounds your BMI is 31 and by definition you are obese.

You didn’t include pictures so we really can’t make an assessment.

I don’t like doing liposuction on patients over the age of 50 because skin elasticity is lost and the results typically don’t look good. If the problem is subcutaneous fat Liposuction is an option if you’re OK with the skin not looking perfect.

Then again treating the primary problem is may be a better way to go.

Time to tighten up the beltline and cut out the foods that are causing the problem.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD