If you have troublesome localized fat tissue that is unresponsive to diet or exercise, Vancouver liposuction assisted removal may be an extremely valuable procedure and deserves your consideration.
A method of fat tissue removal is available for selected use for a variety of conditions. For the most part, the size and shape of our bodies are characteristics inherited from our parents. The degree to which these characteristics are manifest depends to a certain extent on our calorie intake and our energy expenditure, but the basic body shape is an inherited trait.
Weight gain and loss is dependent more on how much fat is present in the individual cells than the number of cells and removal of cells and removal of or deconstruction of cells will largely prevent the fat from re-accumulating in those areas treated.
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History
Surgical removal of excess fat tissue has been performed for almost 100 years. However, until recently, the methods used required surface incisions and incision closures that did not usually leave minor scars. There was always a serious question as to whether the final results, in terms of permanent scarring, justified the procedures.
In the 1970′s a French surgeon, working in Paris, developed a technique using a blunt tipped, hollow metal tube along with a high vaccuum suction to remove fat tissue in a number of different body locations. This method became widely used and found wide acceptance by both surgeons and patients. Recent refinements have made the surgery safer, less painful, and produce even better results.
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Some of the recent innovations include
Syringe Method – Initially, suction was done by connecting to a powerful vacuum machine via non-collapsing tubing. Simply using a large syringe which is locked open results in less trauma to small blood vessels and better control of the amount removed.
Tumescent Technique – By injecting large quantities of a solution containing very dilute local anaesthetic, adrenaline and salt water, bleeding is reduced, less bruising results, and it may even be possible to do the surgery under local anaesthesia with sedation.
Small Diameter Cannulae – By using smaller suction tubes, more precision has been obtained, and there is less trauma, less bleeding with less bruising.
Ultrasonic Assisted Lipoplasty (UAL) – This newer technique was developed in Italy and Israel; it uses ultrasonic energy to liquefy the fat first, then gentle suction to remove the fat. This was experimental in the 1990s and is now a well-established technology.
Vancouver Liposuction Power Assisted Lipoplasty (PAL) - This, most recent, innovation in liposuction treatment, involves attaching the liposuction cannula to a small hand piece which moves the cannula back and forth in tiny movements at speeds up to 2000 movements per minute.
This is different from UAL and works on the principle familiar to anyone who has used both hand tools and power tools in hobbies and crafts: it is often possible to be more gentle and precise using a power tool. In certain areas, such as the neck, the inner thigh and the knees, ultrasonic liposuction can sometimes remove fat too rapidly and in a less controlled fashion due to the energy of the ultrasound waves extending out from the area intended to be treated. PAL does not have this disadvantage.
The object is not to remove all the fat tissue. A layer must be preserved to avoid undesirable effects. This layer can be thinner in some areas of the body than others.
An important factor in determining any final result is the degree of normal skin elasticity. The skin of younger individuals is more favourable than that of older individuals and results in even shrinkage and a smoother final surface.
In older skin this elastic quality is diminished and it is possible that some wrinkling or irregularity will remain following surgery, even under the best of circumstances. If elasticity is felt to be inadequate to give a good esthetic result, you may be advised to have a skin tightening operation (see Body Contour) of the treated areas, alone, or in combination with suction. This is most common in the abdomen (see Abdominoplasty) but is also useful in the neck (see Rejuvenative Facial Surgery), the buttocks and thighs (see Buttock & Thigh Lift).
Post operatively, you will be wearing a compression garment (girdle) which has been made expressly for this purpose, with zippers, hooks and eyes, or velcro® closures, and an opening in the crotch so that for the first few days it does not need to be removed. Compression is worn almost continuously for two to six weeks, depending on your circumstances. After the first few days, swimming may be advisable…water pressure from sitting in a pool has a very similar effect as a girdle and feels wonderful.
Occasionally, in Vancouver liposuction a patient who wants a more limited procedure, we do liposuction on patients who might be best treated by abdominoplasty with or without a buttock lift, and give a satisfying albeit more limited result.
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Conclusion
Although lipoplasty has limitations, it is a wonderful method of achieving improvement in body shape when localized fatty deposits limit what you can achieve through diet and exercise alone. Continuing improvements in techniques have made it safer and more reliable over the years since its inception.
