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Liposuction remains one of the most enduringly sought-after procedures nationwide. Nearly 260,000 American adults chose to get this surgery performed in 2018, according to a report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Doctors and patients alike love liposuction because of its ability to produce tailored body contouring. Even people who have already attained a goal weight through diet and exercise find they have frustrating “trouble spots” of fat that remain unresponsive, despite their best efforts. Liposuction can augment your healthy nutrition and fitness efforts with targeted toning and shaping.
As a board-certified cosmetic surgeon, Dr. Desman takes pride in providing dramatic, yet natural-looking liposuction results to his patients in Northern Virginia. One of the most frequently asked questions he receives from people considering liposuction is, “Can fat return after my procedure?” If you’re wondering the same thing, it’s understandable, because it demonstrates you are maintaining realistic expectations for what cosmetic surgery can and cannot help you achieve.
The answer is that liposuction can be highly effective at producing long-term results, provided you are willing to commit to maintaining your results over the years. Knowing how to prevent fat from returning requires you to understand how fat cells work within your body.
Fat cells behave differently from other types of cells. For adults, the total amount of fat cells in our bodies remains stable over time. It is a common misconception that adding and removing fat cells leads to weight gain and loss. Instead, the existing fat cells you already had increase and decrease in size.
If you have unwanted fat in specific areas, such as your upper arms, buttocks, and abdomen, you will not be able to spot-tone these zones at the gym. As you have probably noticed, all your fat cells get smaller when you lose weight – not just your problem regions. In other words, you don’t have control over the proportions of your body.
In contrast, during liposuction surgery, Dr. Desman will manually remove excess fat cells from these targeted areas using a suction device, which reduces the total number of fat cells in your body and creates the shape you desire but were unable to achieve through diet and exercise alone.
The good news is that liposuction results can last many years. After manual removal of fat cells, your body will not replace them, and they will not show up in a different area. You will not cause your remaining fat cells to grow as long as you maintain a stable body weight.
Though Dr. Desman can help you reduce the amount of fat in specific areas with liposuction, it’s important to note the distinction between liposuction surgery and weight-loss procedures that help obese people quickly shed pounds. No surgery can prevent you from ever gaining weight again. If you consume more calories than you burn, you’ll see the weight return.
While the spots where you had liposuction will not regain the same amount of fat as they would if you hadn’t gotten the procedure, the fat cells that remain in these areas will grow larger, which will make your liposuction results less noticeable.
While liposuction can provide a noticeable improvement in the areas that have been frustrating you, that doesn’t mean no work is necessary on your part before or after your surgery. The most satisfied liposuction patients are people who have already committed to a consistent diet and exercise strategy and gotten within five to 10 pounds of their target body weight before having their procedure.
Liposuction is not a shortcut to weight loss, nor is it an excuse to overindulge or allow yourself too many “cheat days.” Additionally, keep in mind that long-lasting is not synonymous with permanent. As you age, it is normal for your metabolism to slow down and the proportions of your body to change. If you become concerned about the effects of time on your contours, you can contact Dr. Desman to ask if additional procedures might be right for you.
If you’re tired of feeling self-conscious in swimwear or hate choosing clothes based on what outfits do the best job of concealing your bulges, liposuction may be for you. If you want results that last, select an experienced, board-certified plastic surgeon and commit to a healthy lifestyle before you consider getting surgery. Contact our office to schedule your liposuction consultation.