• Video
  • Smartlipo, Vaser, Tumescent, or Aqualipo: Which Procedure Does What?
{{ showTranscript ? 'HIDE' : 'SHOW' }} TRANSCRIPT
Hi, I'm Dr. Adam Oppenheimer and I'm a plastic surgeon in Melbourne, Florida. The number of different liposuction techniques has really been dizzying in the last several years, and I think from a patient perspective it gets very confusing as to which technique is best for you. I'll try to simplify it as best as possible.

For most patients, standard tumescent liposuction with the standard suction cannulas is efficient. I think it works well, it removes the extra fat, and if there's just a couple of areas that have unwanted fat, standard liposuction has been around for a really long time and it's very effective.

Moving forward from that, there's several other techniques that I think should be addressed. One of those is ultrasound liposuction. I think ultrasound-assisted liposuction is great for the male breast or gynecomastia, because that tissue is very thick and needs to be broken up with the ultrasound cavitation effect, as they say.

The other place that I think ultrasonic liposuction is great is for the back. There's really some stubborn areas in the back and in the flanks that, again, have very thick fat. So by using ultrasound, you can break up that fat and make it more easily removed via the liposuction technique.

One of the other techniques that I think is great is laser-assisted liposuction. People know this as smart lipo. Smart lipo works for patients who have loose skin. The added benefit of adding the laser to the equation is that you get a skin tightening effect. If you have good skin elasticity, then standard liposuction is sufficient. If you have some loose skin, particularly in the lower abdomen, but you're not quite interested in having a big procedure like a tummy tuck, and you don't have a lot of stretch marks, but you do have loose skin, I think smart lipo is an excellent choice. It does create some skin-tightening in that area, and I think that it can provide exceptional results without the need for a tummy tuck.

There are some other techniques like aqua lipo. Those are a little bit more fringe. They purport to cause less injury to the tissues during the liposuction, but generally I think standard, conventional liposuction is perfectly fine for most patients as well.

Again, I'm Dr. Adam Oppenheimer, I'd love to talk to you about any liposuction techniques. I do offer them all and I'd love to see you in Melbourne, Florida. Again, thanks for watching.

Smartlipo, Vaser, Tumescent, or Aqualipo: Which Procedure Does What?

Dr. Oppenheimer breaks down several liposuction techniques.