My Elite Journey

Hello all! I wanted to share my experience with Airsculpt since I know how valuable reading reviews was to me in making my decision.

I’m in my early 30s, 5’7” and about 140lbs. My weight has bounced around a couple times in my life. I was a pretty plump kid and stayed overweight into my late teens. In college I dropped quite a bit of weight and went from about a size 12 to around a size 2/4. Unfortunately within a couple years I gained a substantial amount of weight again before I hit my peak of about 190lb. I started gradually losing weight before dropping a ton of weight quickly after starting my first job out of graduate school. I went from about a 10/12 to a 0 in a year and a half. Since then (approx 3.5 years), I’ve been a pretty constant 0/2 and about 135-140lbs. Needless to say, this yo-yoing in my younger days left my body deformed, for a lack of a better word. While friends and family refer to me as “skinny,” I have loose skin on my lower abdomen, as well as fat under my chin and around my midsection that will not go away despite walking/jogging multiple miles daily, doing strength training about three days a week, and eating healthier. I also feel my weight loss has wreaked havoc on my breasts; whenever I lost weight it seemed to come from my breasts first, leaving them small and deflated looking.

Between finally having the means to do so and the time to do it (working from home during COVID has had its perks), I decided to start exploring options for correcting all these things that’ve bothered me for so long. I initially was considering a full tummy tuck, but for a multitude of reasons I decided against it (heavily invasive, too much down time, too expensive to get any other procedures done simultaneously). Then I came across Elite Body Sculpture, got a quote, and started digging into reviews.

Based on my research, I decided this was the best option for me. I appreciated the fact I could knock out a lot of procedures at once, and those procedures were not performed under general anesthesia, were drainless, and had significantly less downtime. I also researched Dr. Nalluri who had nothing but glowing reviews. So, I am booked bright and early tomorrow morning for the following:

Double chin

Upper abdomen

Lower abdomen

Hips/flanks

Tiny tuck

Up a Cup

I will begin posting after photos in the next few days. Wish me luck!

Recovering from my procedures I had earlier today. I got to the clinic early and filled out all the informed consent forms (of course they go over worst-case scenarios, which made me even more anxious about the procedure).

After that, my nurse Diana led me back to the pre-op room where she went over all care instructions. She was so warm and reassuring and was able to tell me exactly what to expect.

Dr. Nalluri then came in to mark me up with the classic blue marker and to take photos. We discussed all my concerns and he really understood exactly what I was looking for. He noted I did not have much fat under my chin (I always felt like it was super obvious, but I recognize it’s more minimal than some other folks’). But he understood that I really was hoping for a more defined jaw and chin and he was confident this procedure would help. Regarding my excess skin, he was honest that I had some excess skin above the belly button (I knew this going into it, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do a full tummy tuck for reasons I noted in my last post). But he thought with the Airsculpt part of the procedure it would likely be less obvious. Then we discussed the incision point for the Tiny Tuck and appearance of my belly button. I have a “frowny face” belly button (as depicted in my “before” pictures yesterday) and I’d been cautioned previously that this could be exacerbated with a Tiny Tuck. Regarding the incision point, I asked if it could be as low as possible (I’d seen some other Mini TTs where the incision was high and could be visible with some swimwear/lingerie, and I wanted to avoid that if possible!). He thought that was totally feasible and marked the incision point, which I was more than happy with. Regarding the belly button, he showed me what it may look like if he “anchored” the center of my lower abdomen a certain way, and it was a marked improvement!

Next, nurse Diana administered all my happy drugs (truly worked wonders for my nerves), antibiotics, and anti nausea meds (they worked!). Then I went into the op room. I got to pick my music (they have an Amazon Echo and it’s super easy to pick your music!). Nurse Diana then administered another shot (I’m spacing out on the name), which burned (she warned me to expect it!) but the pain subsided quickly.

Dr. Nalluri was very communicative about what he was doing. The numbing of the fat was easily the most painful part. I like to think I have high pain tolerance but man did I grab that nitrous oxide quickly! After that I just felt highly intoxicated and it all was much less painful. After that all I could feel was pressure on the various treatment areas. The Airsculpt was obviously performed first, followed by the Tiny Tuck, and lastly the Up a Cup. The whole thing just flew by. Before I knew it I was done!

Nurse Diana again went over all the post op care with the pads, and helped me get into my bra, faja, and neck garment. Then I went into the recovery area where she had a Gatorade and Clif bar waiting for me. Several minutes later my ride came to sign me out, and I was on my way!

Right afterwards I felt fantastic. I was literally feeling zero pain. I walked down a set of stairs no problem. When I got home I did lay down and promptly conked out, which Nurse Diana suspected would happen.

When I woke up everything felt like such a blur; like I’d dreamt everything! The pain then really started kicking in, particularly around my Tiny Tuck incision area. I took the 800mg ibuprofen prescription pill and went back to nap some more. When I hit up a couple hours later I was still in quite a bit of pain around my abdomen so I caved and took the codeine/Tylenol prescription. That helped immensely. I was even able to walk around doing some tidying of my house. I was shocked how good I felt after undergoing so many procedures!

Of course, I’ll continue to post with my progress. I’m confined to my bra/faja/chin wrap for another couple days but Nurse Diana did take a snap after my Tiny Tuck incision that I can share now. Stay tuned!

Honestly I’ve been holding off on this update because I am a bit discouraged that I’m not seeing better results for my full abdominal and Tiny Tuck. Both Nurse Emily and Nurse Diana told me to expect a lot of swelling, and that swelling could last weeks, so I’m hoping that’s what’s going on. As you can see from the photos my stomach is not exactly flat and it’s definitely pinchable. I was also hoping for a slightly better belly button appearance. Hmph.
I am, however, happy with my Up a Cup and double chin procedures. I was told to expect my breast size to decrease quite a bit between swelling going down and fat loss (I knew not to expect 100% of the fat to survive), but they feel MASSIVE compared to my flat chest pre-procedure. So I am thinking even after fat loss and the subsiding of any swelling in my chest area, I’ll still come out of this with greatly improved breast size. The photo I’m including here is in my recovery bra, which is not padded at all.
Regarding the double chin procedure, I think the before and after photos speak for themselves. I’m not sure if I’m still experiencing swelling in that area, but even if this is the final result, I would be satisfied.
As for my recovery, it’s been more than tolerable. I was quite sore for a few days, but after the first two days I was able to limit my use of the Tylenol/codeine prescription to just before bedtime and ibuprofen during the day. And for the past few days, I haven’t needed any ibuprofen during the day, though I’ve still been taking the Tylenol/codeine at night since sleeping has been less comfortable (due to the Up a Cup procedure, I can ONLY sleep on my back—pressure on my breasts could result in decreased fat retention). I’m now able to walk a few miles a day on my treadmill (nothing strenuous since I need to heal more!), and the soreness is down to what I’d expect the day after a good ab workout. I’ve also been taking Arnica tablets for bruising and swelling (both nurses recommended it), but I’m not sure whether it’s making any difference.
Im still wearing all my garments almost 24/7. I’ve gone out in public without my chin compression garment, but aside from that I’ve only removed them to wash them and to shower. On that note, one thing I didn’t know going into this is that you have to wear a foam pad under your compression garment, so if you’re planning to get any part of your abs done, factor in the fact you'll probably need to wear baggy clothes for at least a couple weeks after your procedure. I have exactly one dress that manages to conceal my pregnant looking tummy when I need to go out to run errands, which isn’t super fun, but it is what it is.
Anyway, I hope this update helps others considering any of these procedures. Feel free to ask any questions you might have. I’ll update again soon.