I'm Worried About the Scarring from Smart Lipo - How Large Are the Incisions, How Many?

Whether you have conventional tumescent liposuction or smart liposuction, the insertion scars may be very small about a quarter of an inch. Other risks exists, though, such as indentations and irregularities. Sometimes the back area is not a fat problem but loose hanging skin and liposuction may not help that. If you are very concerned about liposuction, but it is determined that you are a candidate for the procedure, it may be possible to obtain fat reduction without surgery through Zeltiq, as an off-label procedure but the technique is relatively new and you may wish to wait some more time before deciding to have that done. See a board-certified plastic surgeon or dermatologic surgeon to evaluate your condition.

There is no common places for incisions to be done. The point is to chose the most efficient placement for liposuction and in the same time to hide the incision as much as possible. We usually try to place them asymmetrically, to make less noticeable and this can be discussed with the patient preveously.In most patients the incision scars look like small spots or lines about 3-4 mm long which become almost invisible with the time.

There are usually two openings placed on each side, which serve as insertion points for the local anesthesia, laser, and microcannulas. When using the tumescent, microcannular method, these openings don’t need to be any larger than 2 millimeters; this is about one-third the diameter of a pencil eraser. They can be discretely placed in areas which are typically covered such as over the hip bone, and oriented along natural skin crease lines so that they heal in a manner that blends in with normal skin lines.
 

During your consultations, you should ask to view before and after photos which demonstrate the progression of how the skin heals after a Smartlipo procedure. Unless you have a history of poor healing, hypertrophic or keloid scarring, these openings are rarely noticeable after six months. If your natural skin type is olive to dark (type 3 or greater) then you have a greater chance of having a darker blemish that can last longer. To minimize the risk of scarring or discoloration, you can use Mederma cream during the first two weeks and then consider pulsed-light spot treatments after six months.