None of us like to have a wobbly tummy but not all of us have the disciple to do enough exercise to get rid of it. Also if you have had children or lost a lot of weight sometimes no matter how much exercise you do you just can’t get rid of that wobble. So what can you do?
If you have a lot of excess skin your best option maybe a ‘tummy tuck’ but nowadays most women who are only a little bit overweight chose liposuction instead. Liposuction is often called liposculpturing as it sculpts your body to get rid of your bulge. There are now several different ways of doing liposuction and every surgeon will have their preferred method.
Modern techniques like power liposuction cannulas, ultrasonic or laser treatment take less time, are more effective and less painful overall than the traditional method. The fat extraction method is similar but by using ultrasonic or laser treatment first, the fat is dissolved before removal. Also more fat cells can be removed in less time thereby reducing both the operation and the recovery time. And once the fat cells are gone they are gone forever!
The Treatment
Commonly referred to as the ‘lunch-time lipo’ the most up-to-date treatments use only local anesthetic. The surgeon marks the area to be worked on and then, after giving you anesthetic, inserts a tiny cannula into the area and either using laser or ultra-sound dissolves the fat before draining it from your body. The incisions are very small and usually heal very quickly.
One method, called lipo-dissolve, injects substances into the fat which make it dissolve and it is naturally eliminated from the body. Another new non-invasive treatment uses ultrasonics to remove the fat and sculpt your body. By vibrating and dissolving the fat cells, fat is eliminated from the body by natural body processes. Recovery time is much shorter, but you usually need more than one treatment to achieve the results you want.
Post Op
After treatment you will normally have to wear a special compression garment such as graduated leggings for a few weeks until the bruising and swelling has gone. After about 3 months you shouldn’t even be able to see you have had a procedure except that troublesome tummy wobble will be gone.
Pregnancy
It is possible to get pregnant after liposuction and your body should go back to how it looked before the pregnancy. However you might prefer to put off having ‘lipo’ until after your babies to make sure you get the most benefit from the procedure.
Risks
General anesthetics are inherently risky, and therefore doctors can be over enthusiastic and take too much fat in one go, or do more than one procedure at once. Serious complications although rare, can include perforation of the gut, permanent nerve damage and in the worst case scenario – even death.
Modern techniques reduce these risks because they use a local anesthetic, however minor complications can still include fainting, temporary bruising, and allergic reactions to the drugs used. This is why it is very important when having any sort of elective surgery or treatment to make sure that your doctor is not only well qualified but has sufficient training and experience in the technique you want.