Liposuction is an primarily a fat-removal treatment. It can be used to reduce stubborn deposits in the arms, neck, chin, waist, stomach and thighs. Importantly, Liposuction is not a weight loss tool and aiming to be close to your goal weight before your liposuction can be advantageous to your results.
Dr Michael Rich has been performing the tumescent liposuction procedure in Australia over 30 years ago. Dr Rich was trained by Dr Jeffrey Klein, the founder of the tumescent technique in the USA.
Where can we do liposuction?
- Tummy
- Thighs
- Hips
- Back
- Legs
- Knees
- Elbows
- Neck
- Chin
- Breasts
Please note that only subcutaneous fat can be removed. Visceral body fat, also known as ‘hidden’ fat, is fat stored deep inside the belly, wrapped around the organs, including the liver and intestines can never be liposuctioned.
The tumescent treatment technique – The gold standard in liposuction
The tumescent technique developed in the late 1980’s by Dr Jeffrey Klein, also a dermatologist, has been widely adopted as the liposuction surgery norm and, in Australia, the standard technique used. Fatty deposit removal and reshaping in days gone by had a very problematic reputation, with lumpy, bumpy, inconsistent results, a lot of bleeding and bruising, and sometimes major post-surgery issues. Patient comfort is key to the tumescent technique, and every liposuction practionaire in Australia now uses some variation of this technique.
‘Tumescent’ liposuction means the area is filled with an anaesthetic mixture which also acts to quell bleeding from the blood vessels broken during the procedure.
The local anaesthetic also negates the need for general anaesthetic. The technique is so named because the word ‘tumescent’ actually means ‘swollen’, and when the area is full of the tumescent liquid, it becomes fuller – looking and feeling swollen – so the doctor can better see and feel what they are doing.
We only perform the tumescent technique at ENRICH Clinic.
There are a handful of liposuction techniques, and they all have methods that are just a variation on the same tumescent technique that Dr Rich uses. Some practitioners offer liposuction combined with laser treatment in the same procedure. In Dr Rich’s view, this can increase patient risk, and he recommends laser or skin tightening procedures take place as a separate treatment post-liposuction.
‘Non-Surgical’ Liposuction – It’s not a thing
Anyone claiming to perform ‘non-surgical liposuction’ of any kind is being untruthful. Liposuction is a surgery, and every surgery by its very nature is invasive – there is simply no such thing as non-surgical varieties of liposuction.
Anything that punctures and penetrates the skin is considered by law to be invasive. Liposuction is literally suctioning away adipose tissue, and to get to these cells, you must break the skin and penetrate it – this is what we call surgery.
There are other methods for fatty deposit reduction or removal that aren’t surgical, but they are not considered in any way to be liposuction. Examples are Trusculpt or fat-dissolving injections. Whilst less invasive, these techniques are usually used to remove small pads in small areas.
Choose carefully
Choosing the right method of fat removal for you is important.
Aiming for the cheapest liposuction option could get you a doctor who values his or her skills less and possibly patient safety less, which is not desirable when it comes to lasting shaping. You cannot undo liposuction, and possible fixes can get disappointing as the extent of what they can do as well as expensive.
Putting on weight after Lipo
There are a few myths floating around the internet that are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how adipose tissue behaves in the human body. The rumour is that ‘you will just put on weight somewhere else after lipo’, which is partly true and partly false.
If you put on weight after liposuction, which is generally within your control, without the number of fat cells in the area you had treated, the energy must be stored elsewhere. Thus, you put weight on in another area than you might usually, as well as the place you would usually – there are still adipose cells left there. Taking them all would make you look very peculiar indeed.
This is because once you hit puberty, you have all the fat cells you will ever have, and they simply expand and shrink depending on how much energy (fatty acids) they are storing. Your adipose tissue cells are like bags of coins – you spend some money, the bag goes down; you save some money, the bags get bigger. One cell does not mean one ‘bit’ of fat; a cell is a storage facility.
Choose who performs your liposuction wisely, and there will be just the right amount left in the area, but you can naturally lose and gain weight and still keep the liposuctioned shape.
Manage your expectations
This is very important both for your mental health and your bank account. Liposuction is not a weight loss tool. In Australia, a maximum of five litres of fluid (including fat and other fluids) can be removed from the body in one procedure. This is not a like-for-like fat loss either, so it doesn’t necessarily equate to 5 kilos. The actual amount of fat removed depends on the patient, their needs, their genetics, attributes and the areas that require liposuction.
Liposuction is a surgery.
With all surgeries or procedures, there are risks. Those risks can be numerous and include infection, bruising, soreness and in some cases bleeding. Consult your physician (GP) before undertaking any surgical or cosmetic procedure. Before undertaking any liposuction consultation, a referral from a GP is required. Please read the consent forms carefully and be informed about every aspect of your treatment. We will discuss risks at your face-to-face consultation. Surgeries such as liposuction have a mandatory seven-day cooling-off period to give patients adequate time to be sure of their surgery choice. Results may also vary from person to person, due to many factors including the individual’s genetics, diet and exercise.
Contact us to arrange a consultation with Dr Rich at our clinic to discuss if liposuction is right for