Tumescent Liposuction Review - Melbourne, AU

I wanted to reduce my belly fat. I'm at the slightly higher end of the healthy weight range (BMI 23.6) and not especially fit. I've been slimmer in the past, but my belly never reduces as much as the rest of me. I am a classic "apple" shape and have the exact same figure as my mum - I know that lower belly isn't shifting!

I had the procedure today, under local anaesthetic, no painkiller. The procedure felt weird and there was a small amount of pain but nothing at all bad.

First they gave me several injections to numb the spots where the canulas would go in. Then the nurse made the punctures (no pain) and pushed a long thin metal tube (a canula - looked about as thick as a thinnish knitting needle) into each puncture to fill the area with the numbing fluid. This was the only part where I felt a little pain but it really wasn't bad - I've suffered more in a hard massage! Mainly it was a little gross and unnerving as I could feel the canulas going in and out under my skin, and sort of snagging and separating the tissue in the process. I'm not at all squeamish and so I only found it a bit off putting - if you are at all squeamish, consider some kind of sedation for the gross factor rather than any pain!

After the fluid had gone in, I had to wait on the table for more than an hour - the fluid is cold and lots of it leaks out while they are working so it was a bit damp and chilly waiting, but no pain.

Then Dr Lanzer came in and did the actual lipo - this feels similar to the bit with the fluid only more vigorous. He basically pushed the long thin metal rod back and forth under the skin, sucking out the fat. Again, kind of gross and somewhat uncomfortable but really very bearable and over quite fast.

I took a taxi home - that's against their recommendation but i didn't have any sedation and really felt completely normal.

Now, about 6 hours later, am feeling pretty normal except I'm in an enormous foam belt thing around my stomach. If it wasn't for this thing I'd be almost able to just go about business as usual (although I have a bunch of adult diapers taped to my tummy to catch the leaking fluid!) Let's see how i feel tomorrow, i suspect it might get worse before better! All up, I think he removed about 700ml of fat. I can't see the result yet as it's all covered and I'm not to take it off until 24 hours.

It's 24 hours after the procedure now and I've just changed the dressings. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised at what I saw! I had expected a bit of a horror show, thinking that it would be very lumpy and crepey as the skin wouldn't have had time to recover and the Dr Lanzer warned me that my skin is a bit loose and not to worry about how it looks initially. However, at this stage, it looks great. It's a lot flatter than before, but doesn't look too unnatural or saggy - it just looks more in proportion to the rest of me than before. I imagine it will swell up and bruise in the coming weeks, but if this is an indication of what I can expect as the final result, I'll be delighted! There was a lot of liquid in the dressings, but I think it has stopped weeping now. The six little punctures are still quite open but seem fine, and I'm not in any significant pain. The stomach is a little tender and I'm ginger about bending over or sitting down suddenly, but it's really nothing at all problematic, and I haven't had to take any painkillers yet. I slept very well last night (I'm a heavy sleeper though). Overall, so far, it's been a way less difficult experience than I had prepared myself for - I hope it goes on as well as it's started! I will upload some pics shortly...