- Video
- Liposuction Procedure
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With regard to the liposuction procedure itself, there are four parts to liposuction surgery. The first part, as far as I'm concerned, is proper consultation with the patient. The second part, if we're deciding to move forward is the preoperative visit, which is a brief visit where we check blood tests and do a quick history and physical. Then comes the day of surgery itself. The patient comes to the surgical center. They're given some medications to relax them, typically with a Valium. I mark the areas out, photographs are done. The patient is taken to the operating room, put on the table. I come in. I numb the access points with a little baby needle.I then start putting the numbing fluid in because I strongly prefer to do this under purely local anesthesia. So I'm taking 15 or 20 minutes and letting the fluid slowly soak into the fat. Typically there's a pinching as that's going on, but it's very tolerable.
During the surgery itself the patient is conscious, which takes usually between 30 minutes and an hour and a half, you feel almost nothing at all, like you were getting a massage. The areas are milked while the patient's on the table. They're put into a garment. They go home in the care of family or a friend. They walk around the day of surgery. They drain a little bit for about 12 to 24 hours. They could take a two-mile walk the next day. They're back to work in usually two days. They wear a garment 24 hours a day the first ten days, 12 hours a day for ten days after that.
Then, in terms of the recovery process, I see patients back in day one and day seven for a quick post-operative visit, but your final results are not usually between six and 12 months, even though many times it will look better after a few weeks.
