Things You Need Know About Liposuction

Making the decision to get liposuction is not one you should take lightly. It is a highly invasive procedure that alters your skin and body forever. Here is what you need to know about liposuction and how to protect your skin through the procedure so that you’re happy with the results.

In the U.S., more than 400,000 liposuction procedures are performed annually. What is liposuction? Liposuction is the breaking up and sucking up of fat from parts of the body. Common sites of liposuction include the stomach, thighs, buttocks, chin and neck. The fat is removed with the use of an instrument called a cannula that gets inserted into the skin and attached to a vacuum.

What Liposuction Can and Can’t Do

You might assume that liposuction can achieve fast weight loss once and for all, but it can’t completely overhaul your entire body. What liposuction can do, however, is eliminate fat from certain areas of the body to change your shape. It’s important to remember that liposuction is not going to remove other elements that can be associated with increased body weight, such as stretch marks or cellulite. The positive changes to your body shape will remain after liposuction as long as you don’t put on weight. Therefore, following of a healthy lifestyle is important to maintain your results.

What to Expect From the Procedure

You will probably be put under general anesthesia, unless the liposuction is being conducted on a very small part of your body. The operation lasts between one and four hours. After the procedure, some important things will happen. Bandages will be placed around the surgery site. These will help to decrease bruising and inflammation, although bruising will definitely be present and can last for a few weeks up to a few months. You will be given antibiotics and painkillers which will help to relieve discomfort. Since liposuction is such an invasive procedure, you’re also likely to experience numbness in the area where liposuction was administered. This can last for up to six months.

The Importance of Having Good Skin

You might think that the only thing you need to remember after liposuction is that your skin will heal with time. Although this is partly true, you can do a lot to encourage healthy skin. An even skin tone and elastic skin is important before and after liposuction. You want your skin to reshape itself attractively. If you don’t have skin elasticity before the procedure, your skin might become saggy after liposuction.

Weeks and months before your liposuction procedure, you should follow a healthy lifestyle that includes eating nutritious, low-fat foods and exercising regularly to keep both your skin and body healthy. Using a skin-firming, lightening product that promotes an even skin tone and firmness is also beneficial.

How to Treat Your Skin After the Procedure

• Wear Body-Shaping Garments. The body parts that underwent liposuction will have to be supported with strong bandages that will be worn for a few weeks, after which a Spanx-like garment needs to be worn for about a month. This is essential to help your body contour to its new, fabulous shape.
• Improve Your Skin Quality. The use of a nourishing moisturizer, such as coconut oil, is great to encourage healthy skin. Coconut oil maintains the suppleness of the skin’s connective tissues, preventing sagging. It can also make your skin look more youthful because it is a natural exfoliant, removing dead skin cells so your complexion can glow.
• Erase Scars. Once your wounds have healed, you can treat scars with a product that nourishes your skin and removes imperfections. Try a natural skin-whitening product that doesn’t contain harmful chemicals and eliminates an uneven skin tone as well as scars, such as Exquisite Corrective Skin Whitening Gel.
• Eat Protein-Rich Foods like salmon and yogurt. This makes your skin produce new, healthy skin cells.

• Avoid Certain Foods That Damage Your Skin. Foods high in salt increase inflammation after surgery. Sugar destroys the skin’s collagen that is responsible for firmness, and processed foods can increase skin problems such as acne.

Liposuction shouldn’t be viewed as a quick-fix when you want to lose weight but it can help you achieve a trimmer, more shapely body. To ensure that you get the results you want as well as smooth, youthful and healthy skin, make skincare a priority!