Liposuction

Serving San Francisco, San Jose, & Walnut Creek, California

Liposuction is a great solution if you have been working on losing weight, with a good diet and lots of exercise, but still have certain areas that won’t respond. That’s a frustrating situation to be in, after so much work.

There are typically certain areas that behave stubbornly that way:

• The abdomen
• Upper thighs
• Upper arms
• Buttocks
• Upper back
• Hips

Liposuction focuses on those isolated areas and uses suction to remove that particular fatty tissue. Once those cells are gone, they do not re-grow. However, you could still gain weight again because the remaining cells could enlarge.

Tumescent liposuction

When liposuction was first performed, only a small amount of fluid was injected into the site to help with the fat removal. But it was realized that more fluid would make it even easier, and so tumescent liposuction has all but replaced the original method.

The term tumescent means swollen. A fairly large amount of saline solution, containing an anesthetic for your comfort, is injected at the beginning of the procedure. It creates more space in the treatment area, thus helping Plastic Surgeon Dr. Weil be more accurate in his movements.

Ultrasound

To remove the fat most easily, it is first liquefied (emulsified). The instrument used to suction it out, known as a cannula, can apply ultrasonic vibrations to that fatty tissue, which breaks it up. The injected fluid engulfs it, and when the suction is applied, removal can be done easily.

Incisions are small, since the cannula is narrow. There will be multiple incisions, allowing Dr. Weil to approach the treatment area from different angles. Those resulting scars will be tiny – less than an inch long.

Liposuction is one of the most popular of all cosmetic surgery procedures, at our San Francisco Cosmetic Surgery offices and nationwide. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) placed it #3 in the top five cosmetic surgery procedures for 2006 (303,000 procedures).

If you would like to set up a complimentary liposuction consultation to discuss your plastic surgery goals, please send our San Francisco Cosmetic Surgery Office an email, or call us at 415-781-2081. We look forward to working with you soon.

For questions about Financing options please see our cosmetic surgery finance page.

Randall B. Weil M.D., F.A.C.S

San Francisco Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

909 Hyde St., Ste. 602, San Francisco, CA 94109 | 415-781-2081