Roombas are hip. You see cats riding around on them on YouTube. They go about their business, continually vacuuming up unwanted stuff off your floors, and you don’t even have to do anything. It’s almost as if at least one part of The Jetsons, the old cartoon TV show from the 60s about the future, actually came to pass.
Wouldn’t that be awesome if you could have a Roomba for your unwanted body fat?
The next best thing is liposuction with our board-certified Elite Plastic Surgery surgeons. Liposuction removes unwanted pockets of fat permanently with relatively little recovery time.
It came from the 80s
If you thought nothing good came out of the 80s with its neon colors and Debbie Gibson songs, you’d be missing one thing — liposuction. The procedure was developed in France and received FDA approval to come into the U.S. market in the mid-80s.
The original procedure was pretty traumatic for your body. Patients had to be under general anesthesia. The surgeon had to move the cannula (the suction tube) back and forth quite violently under the skin to break loose and suction out the unwanted fat. The result of this movement was bleeding and extensive subsequent bruising. Patients could still show signs of bruising a couple months after the procedure.
That was then, this is now
Today liposuction has come a long way. It is far less invasive. For instance, patients now only need local anesthesia. Plus, the procedure can be much more targeted and effective. Early liposuction could result in uneven areas, even dimpling on the skin surface. That is no longer the case.
Our Elite surgeons use the tumescent approach with our liposuction procedures. First, we inject a saline solution that also has lidocaine (local anesthetic) and epinephrine (adrenaline) into the target areas. This has numerous benefits: the liquid makes the fat easier to break up and remove; the local anesthetic keeps the patient comfortable; and the adrenaline constricts the blood vessels to minimize bleeding and subsequent bruising. We also use laser-assisted liposuction if it’s right for the patient’s needs.
And since today’s cannulas are quite small, the incisions needed to insert them are small as well. Most incisions now don’t require any stitches, needing only a small Steri-Strip to heal.
If you have unwanted pockets of fat (and we all do), let’s get rid of them with liposuction. Call us at Elite Plastic Surgery, (616) 459-1907, to schedule your consultation for liposuction.
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