by Dr. Funderburk
“But Doc, Won’t the Fat Just Go Somewhere Else?”
This is an incredibly common question during a liposuction consultation. Patients often fear that the fat will return somewhere else in the body after liposuction of a particular area.
And this is an understandable concern—the last thing a patient wants is to undergo a transformative surgery only to end up with fatty tissue in areas that were previously not problematic.
I hope that I can help dispel this common myth about liposuction.
First, let’s talk about what happens in the body when we gain or lose weight. Let’s dig into the basic underlying biology.
During very early development, our body generates a certain number of fat cells in various amounts throughout the body. This overall number of fat cells is fairly stable throughout life. When we gain weight, the body does not typically create new fat cells, but instead, the existing fat cells grow in size (hypertrophy). And, likewise, when we lose weight, these fat cells shrink in size. The fat cells are not dividing and multiplying, nor are they just disappearing. Instead, it is a pattern of these cells growing and shrinking throughout life.
So what happens with liposuction?
With liposuction, our goal is to take an area that has a disproportionately large number of fat cells and to remove some of those cells through the liposuction cannulas. The goal is to make that particular area in proportion with the surrounding areas in such a way as to optimize the aesthetic result.
Let’s take for example, the ever-problematic male love handles (flanks). It is incredibly common for men to hold a disproportionately high number of fat cells in this area. Men often complain that the love handles throw off the desired V-shaped torso. They also often complain about this area being the most difficult to lose with weight loss and the first to come back when not adhering to a super strict diet.
So, with liposuction, we can help these men by removing a large number of fat cells in this area so that it better coincides with the surrounding areas. Basically we take down the large love handle humps to better streamline the torso and obtain that desired V shape.
My female patients often complain about specific areas where they similarly carry a high number of fat cells. Common areas are the upper arms, the bulge above the bra, the bra-line (mid/upper back) and the inner and outer thighs. Liposuction can be an effective way to remove some of the fat to alleviate bulges and highlight the underlying anatomy. Our goal is long, lean and elegant results; which is the result of taking down some of the fat in these disproportionate areas.
And some areas are common for both men and women to hold extra fat cells, such as the abdomen and flanks. We often alleviate this problem through Lipo360 which tackles both areas.
So, what happens to the fat that is removed? It is gone for good. Sayonara. The body doesn’t sense that the fat has been removed. It is just gone.
If we have done our job well, the treated area is now in better proportion with the surrounding areas, and you will have your nice new physique. Your entire body, including this area, will then grow and shrink proportionally over time.
We strive to leave just enough fat to make the areas streamlined with the surrounding areas and to give the skin its natural feel, smoothness, and color. Our goal is never to remove every single fat cell as this will lead to contour irregularities and a poor aesthetic result. For this reason, it is exceedingly important that you choose a liposuction surgeon who is highly trained in the procedure and performs the procedure very often in his or her practice. Be sure to inquire how many liposuction cases the surgeon performs each year during a consultation. At NPS, we incorporate liposuction into nearly all of our procedures and are intimately familiar with the technique to help assure you the optimal outcome.