There are two types of liposuction available today. One is traditional, suck the fat out with a cannula and vacuum like device, and the other is less invasive and with less recovery time and pain and swelling and bruising, but does not allow the removal of as much fat as traditional lipo, and that is laser lipolysis.
Laser lipolysis goes under several different names now. The most well known perhaps is Smart Lipo, which uses the principle of lasering and melting the fat cells, and then either vacuuming them out gently or allowing them to be expelled from the body through the body’s natural elimination process. That last part is what makes a lot of patients nervous.
What if you get this done and your body fails to rid itself of these destroyed fat cells? Well, that’s why some patients prefer to go to the docs that will also vacuum this fat out with this method. LAL as it is called (Laser Assisted Lipo) is a great option though for those that are of a pretty normal weight that have stubborn problem areas like saddlebags or a double chin, or maybe love handles or centralized belly fat, or perhaps too much upper arm fat that all the tricep extensions in the world and dieting won’t help.
The additional benefit of laser lipolysis, or SmartLipo is that it may help some patient’s skin tighten and tone in the areas where it was performed. This may mean less cellulite appearance, which is obviously a huge benefit, especially in the hips, buttocks and thighs area, where we all tend to have cellulite issues. Essentially, it acts as somewhat of a cellulite treatment as well.
This fact, combined with the faster recovery period, has made LAL a popular choice for those that have localized fat they want removed. Now, if you’re looking for much more dramatic results, and need to have a lot of fat removed, then you may want to look into traditional liposuction. I’m sure it’s come a long way, however, this used to be one of the most painful recoveries for cosmetic surgery out there.
Doctors can typically remove up to five qts. of fat with traditional liposuction. You’d think that might result in actual weight loss, but usually it doesn’t amount to much at all, because fat in and of itself does not weigh all that much.
Patients definitely want to keep the fat off their bodies by maintaining a healthy diet after they get either one of these procedures done, because they still can gain weight, it will just be in different areas than the lipo was performed. They may notice other areas expanding, and of course that is not desirable.
