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In Episode #3 of my CosmeticSurg Video Blog I discuss the difference between two types of liposuction:
tumescent (suction) liposuction vs. laser/ ultrasonic assisted liposuction. If you are considering laser or ultrasonic liposuction you must watch this video to understand why these new technologies may not necessarily be as good as regular tumescent liposuction!
Traditional tumescent liposuction
Tumescent liposuction has been around well over a decade and allows the surgeon to have complete control of the amount of fat being taken out. The tumescent liposuction technique is mechanical as it involves the surgeon using a long rod called a cannula to extract the fat. The motion is a continuous back and forth rhythm to remove the fat. Since the motions are repeated over the course of 1-3 hours, your surgeon must be in good aeroebic shape to give YOU a good result! Honestly, this is one reason why some surgeons do not use this technique!
While the basic technique used in tumescent liposuction has not changed, the size of the cannulas used to extract the fat have gotten much slimmer over the years. In the past, surgeons used larger 5mm cannulas , but this sometimes resulted in lumpy or uneven results. Most surgeons now use 3mm or smaller cannulas. This will increase the length of the surgery as it does take longer to remove the fat from small cannulas, but the results are well worth the longer surgical time! The thinner 3mm cannulas produce excellent and consistent liposuction results. With thin cannulas, traditional tumescent liposuction can achieve the smoothest and most even result possible .
Laser and ultrasonic liposuction
The new technologies for liposuction technique include laser liposuction and ultrasonic liposuction. They emit high energy that liquefies and destroys tissue around the cannula. I do not think these technologies are worth the risks they pose to the patient. Both of these techniques essentially melt the fat under your skin. As they melt the fat, other tissues are damaged. I am not a fan of damaging tissue or fat cells that are not being extracted. Often times, the extracted fat could be used for fat injections to rejuvenate another area of the patient’s body. These technologies destroy that possibility. Additionally, these high energy ultrasound and laser technologies can have complications such as burning, and results can be very unpredictable as it is impossible to tell how much damaged tissue is left behind.
Best technique is tumescent liposuction with slender cannulas
In summary, the best technique available for liposuction is the traditional tumescent liposuction technique with small diameter cannulas. It has stood the test of time. Sometimes the latest is not the greatest. I perform hundreds of liposuction procedures each year and I do not remember the last time a patient asked for a touch up for lumpiness or unevenness. Thin cannulas give you the best chance to get the result right each and every time!
Ricardo L Rodriguez, MD
http://www.cosmeticsurg.net
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41 Comments
January 15, 2012 at 5:56 pm
Amanda:
Unfortunately, nobody can promise to reduce cellulite.
If they are, they want your money. Every few years there is a new cream or apparatus that supposedly takes care of cellulite.
They all bite the dust.
January 13, 2012 at 7:22 pm
Hi doctor,
I am curious to know when any type of liposuction is done on the legs, hips or thighs is cellulite reduced or eliminated as well?
December 22, 2011 at 8:48 pm
Hello, I want to say thanks for the superb plastic cosmetic surgery guidance. Your website seriously helped me along with my decision to move forward with surgical procedures. This really helped me out. Thank You So Much.
July 22, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Thanks
July 20, 2011 at 5:06 am
Hello there, I discovered your web site via Google while looking for a related subject, your web site came up, it seems to be great. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
May 14, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Sue:
What can I tell you? Beware. Make sure you get very clear with the surgeon about how the cost of revisions would be handled if you needed them.
If you were my daughter I’d tell you don’t do it, but you are not my daughter, and that particular surgeon might be very good with Laser lipo.
If you are having doubts, take your time, don’t rush into it.
May 12, 2011 at 12:14 am
Dr.Rodriguez I made an appt for next month to get the smart lipo procedure done. Am I making a wrong choice?
March 18, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Milla:
This fantastic deal may be one of those that is too good to be true- as in BEWARE!
If he is a PA (Physician’s Assistant), he is doing something illegal, as he is not supposed to practice medicine unless under the direct supervision of an MD, and he knows it.
Having a blog like mine I get tons of emails from across the US from people who have had disasters from procedures done by non plastic surgeons. Thus I really would be reluctant to recommend it.
Check out this blog post on why board certification is important.
Regarding this PA, remember the word “con man” comes from “confidence man” as from somebody who gains your confidence before fleecing you.
Trust your instincts, there is something that was not right and that is why you posted here.
March 18, 2011 at 2:59 am
This has been extremely helpful and I ecstatic that I have happened upon your blog. Thank you. My sister and I have been looking into lipo for a long time and came across a fantastic deal. Unfortunately the fellow is not a plastic surgeon, but a PA who claims to have years of experience and thousands of lipo procedures under his belt, as well as many patient recommendations. The funny thing is my sister and I have had countless consultations with surgeons around our state and out of state and nobody has been as informative or honest as he has been about what to expect and what we can achieve. If he were a surgeon we would have been sold, but how do we verify his experience and is it worth the risk?
March 6, 2011 at 1:48 am
Tisha:
Yes, specially after seeing a lot of disasters from “Smart Lipo”
March 3, 2011 at 7:21 pm
Love this video. Still fill that more traditional Lipo with small instrument is best?
Thanks!!
December 21, 2010 at 10:22 pm
Jayson:
Well, thanks for listening!
December 18, 2010 at 12:00 am
Most informative site I’ve found!!!! THANK YOU!
October 15, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Jaki:
The weight is not as important as your body proportions. We have done this procedure on slim mpatients as well as fulsome patients.
We do his procedure a lo and love doing it.
Kelly should be getting in contact with you over the next few days.
October 14, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Dr. Rodriguez is there a certain weight u have to be… and generally what is a base price for this procedure i want to have it within the next 3 months or so depending on the price if it will be sooner than that. Your blog is very informing thank you so much. For the brazilian butt lift.
August 31, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Haven’t heard of ultrasonic lipo before – interesting!
May 31, 2010 at 10:32 am
Roza:
NONE of the liposuction techniques tighten skin. Not laser lipo, not ultrasound lipo, not tumescent lipo. Do not believe the promises of marketers. Not a single study has shown long term tightening of skin. Once skin has lost it’s elasticity your choices are more limited.
I do believe use of very small cannulae during lipo, as well as proper skin splinting and compression during the postoperative period help minimize skin changes after surgery.
By the way, Adr is an interesting last name, where is it from?
May 28, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Dr.Tumescent liposuction able to tighten the skin too or no?
January 29, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Christine:
Body jet lipo is a brand new technique.
I find it curious that the same people pushing the laser lipo are now pushing the jet lipo. If the laser lipo was so great, why are they now fooling around with the jet-lipo?
If they stopped using laser lipo and they were so gung ho about it, why should I believe them now about the jet lipo?
The main advantage of the jet lipo is that it injects the tumescent solution right as it suctions the tissue. The theoretical benefit is that the patient gets less of a fluid overload.
That to me is counterintuitive. As a matter of fact I like the fact that tumescent injects so much fluid, as it acts as a reservoir of fluid that the body reabsorbs slowly over the next few days.
After surgery, there is a lot of fluid loss and this fluid reservoir from the tumescent is a big help.
In general, I like to wait a year or two after the dust settles and all the bugs are worked out of any new technology before I try anything, otherwise the patient and I are just guinea pigs beta testing a new medical device.
Thanks for your interest!
January 28, 2010 at 10:45 pm
Hi Dr.
I was watching your video. It was very informative, and I appreciate that. A question that I have, that has come up in all the research I’ve been doing is what about body-jet lipo? I see so many different doctors talking about laser, smart, slipo and so many others, but not a lot talk about water assisted.
What are your thoughts about it?
Thank you so much!
Christine
January 17, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Lester:
I agree with you.
We’d be happy to help you. We get lots of out of town patients, we are used to it.
January 12, 2010 at 6:53 am
I had Liposelection (Smart Lipo) performed on an outpatient basis with minimal pain, and some bruising and swelling. Within 2 months my inner thighs were back to normal. However, there was no change in the “little extra” that I carried there. Occasional swelling occurs that is easily resolved with massage. Major swelling occurs with vigorous exercise – exercise that is focused toward tighten the inner thigh muscles.
It is not a procedure that I will have performed again. However, I am still on the look out for anything that will help with alleviating the cellulite on my thighs which is very embarassing to me. I would definitely recommend Tumescent liposuction.
November 18, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Dear Eve:
That is a lot of questions, and I’ll try to answer as best as I can.
About the hard lumps, that is probably scarring. I would first try massage, or external ultrasound massage. Physical therapists do that kind of work, but you may need your primary doctor’s referral.
If that doesn’t work the next step might be steroid injections. A Physiatrist, or Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialist may be able to help you with that. Failing that, a revision surgery may be necessary.
As for the heavy back, I have had great success with the use of a serrated cannula. As for the flanks, read this post.
I do a lot of cases like you and would love to hear from you. Email kelly@cosmeticsurg.net to get more info.
November 18, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Dear Isa:
First of all, I have not seen you so I cannot make any judgements.
Having said that, if you have a lot of stretch marks, there is no way laser lipo will tighten your skin like you wanted to. Your doctor has even warned you the result is not going to be what you hope for when he said: “…SINCE I HAVE SO MANY THAT IT WONT BE THE SAME AS IF I HAD MY BELLY TIGHT WITH NO STRETCH MARKS”
Is your doctor a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon? Here’s how you can check, go to this link
Did he offer the option of a dermatolipectomy? That would get rid of your stretch marks and give you tight skin. You would have a scar, but it would be better than laser lipo, which believe me, will not tighten your skin like you want to nor get rid of your stretch marks.
November 18, 2009 at 6:52 pm
HI, I HAVE A QUESTION IM HAVING A LASER LIPO DONE ON FRIDAY IM A BIT NERVOUS BECAUSE ITS MY FIRST TIME..BUT I WANTED TO ASK AND GET DIFFERENT OPINIONS. I HAVE LOTS OF STRETCH MARKS ON MY STOMACHE DUE TO MY PREGNANCY BUT I WANTED TO KNOW DOING LASER LIPO SINCE THE DOCTOR TOLD ME LASER TENDS TO TIGHTEN SKIN. IF MY SKIN WILL TIGHTEN ENOUGH EVEN IF I HAVE STRETCH MARKS OR WILL IT BE LOOSE.. HE SAID SINCE I HAVE SO MANY THAT IT WONT BE THE SAME AS IF I HAD MY BELLY TIGHT WITH NO STRETCH MARKS.. ALL I WANT O KNOW IF IM GOING TO LOOK BETTER EVEN IF THE STRETCH MARKS ARE THERE.. I HAVE TRIED TO LOSE WEIGHT FOR ALMOST A YEAR SO I CAN DO MY TUMMY TUCK BUT NO PROGRESS WAT SO EVER THEY PUT ME ON PHENTERMINE BUT MY BODY JUST BECAME IMMUNE TO IT SO IT WORK THE FIRST OR SECOND MNTH THEN THATS IT.SO THATS WHY I CONSIDERED DOING LIPO FIRST PLEASE HELP I REALLY WANT TO KNOW IF THIS WILL HELP I WEIGHT 198LB AND IM 27YRS OLD NOW AND IM THE TYPE OF PERSON THAT I DONT FEEL GOOD ABOUT MY BODY SOMETIMES IM ASHAMED EVEN TO UNDRESS IN FRONT OF MY HUSBAND AND I DONT WANT TO BE ASHAMED IF I DONT LOOK GOOD AFTER SURGERY..HELP.THANKS
November 16, 2009 at 10:46 am
had lipo done 9 yrs ago, it left many lump in my arms and couple big one in my tummy. Lumps in my arms cause pain all the time. What can I do to remove them or smoothing them?
Also I have hvy back and love handles and fat arms, I heard the back is hard to lip and results are so so, is it true?
thanks
September 24, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Without seeing you or pictures of your condition, there is no way I could express an opinion.
Before taking any drastic action, try a compression garment for a while. sometimes these lumps settle down after a while, as they are scar tissue which can remodel with compression.
These lumps can be improved, and I would encourage you to contact Kelly at kelly@cosmeticsurg.net to set up a virtual consultation.
September 23, 2009 at 10:38 pm
thank you for your explanation for the hard lumps and deformities that i’m experiencing after laser lipo. i haven’t been able to get a straight answer up until now. my comment also includes a question, can these lumps be corrected by a skilled surgeon such as yourself or are all the botched lipo jobs out there dumbed to living with our poor decisions. thank you for any imput you can give me/us.
August 27, 2009 at 7:32 am
You should only purchase these instruments if you are a practicing physician.
July 22, 2009 at 3:06 am
Hi,
You determined very well between tumescent liposuction vs. laser liposuction. As per your explanation, tumescent liposuction is the best for reducing fatness from human body. But, I think sometimes new technique worth it as every technique has its benefits and drawbacks.
July 8, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Thanx for the post!
When are you coming by?
July 7, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Appreciate the shout out! Nicely done, well thought out.
June 27, 2009 at 10:12 am
Thank you for the comment! There’s no better feedback than from a fellow professional.
I saw your website and liked it.
Here’s a link to your website for those of you who live near Utah
BTW, another thing that concerns me as far as the scarring and healing process is the destroyed fat that is left behind, because it is technically impossible to remove it all.
June 26, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Dr Rodriguez, very nice video and post. I subscribed to your interesting blog.
I couldn’t agree more regarding the disadvantages of laser lipo. I have been skeptical from the first time I heard about laser lipo. I recently had a rep bring a laser lipo device to demo on a patient I was doing lipo on. We treated a few areas with PAL and the abdomen with laser lipo. The experience was just as I would expect.
The claims are decreased pain, skin retraction and improved results. In reality it seems to just be an additional step that costs the patient additional money ($90,000 for the platform plus $250 disposables for each procedure) and the surgeon more time. It took 45 minutes to do the laser of the abdomen. The pain was worse than the other areas. I saw no skin retraction. The consistency of the fat extracted was no different than traditional liposuction.
The most important issues are #1 a board certified plastic surgeon with experience and #2 small cannulas. No need to destroy fat that you are going to remove anyways.
Smartlipo and laser lipo are a great marketing tool but that is all.
June 26, 2009 at 2:47 am
Thank you. I really enjoyed your explanation.
June 20, 2009 at 10:56 am
Baltimore, Maryland
We have lots of patients from out of town and would love to hear from you!
June 19, 2009 at 11:21 am
Great video very informative! Would love to know where you are located?
June 12, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Thank you
June 12, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Thank you for your thoughtful response. My best advice to you is that before making the plunge again, interview a few doctors. Ask questions, and make sure the surgeon addresses issues such as complications.
Good Luck
June 12, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Dr. Rodriguez- I have been struggling with horrible results to bad lipo I had done while I lived in Costa Rica. I wish I would have seen this video and/or researched more before I accepted whatever method they through at me. In fact, I have no idea what method was used. I simply trusted it because it took place at one of the best, well known, private hospitals in the country.All I do know is that Ii was left with an uneven, lumpy mess, so I assume it was a large cannula.
Now I am faced with the frustration of doing ridiculous amounts of research this second time around and not knowing what to believe. I often feel defeated and hopeless, and as if many surgeons are out just to trick me and take my money.I know I’ll never have a perfect body, but I hope, with helpful information, such as what you put in your videos and on your blogs, I can fix my bad situation and get some successful surgery as an informed consumer!!
I was convinced that I wanted to try ultrasonic or laser assisted lipo to try and smooth out my lumps from my ambiguous lipo #1, especially since it talks about tightening skin (my tummy was left with loose skin after my lipo, when the Dr. told me it would bounce back at my age of 30 yrs). In addition many times I have seen it aimed at consumers, like myself, who have had previous lipo go wrong. I thought this was going to be my saviour until I started reading surgeons discuss the negative aspects.
I assumed many of these surgeons were just saying bad things about new technology because they didnt want to upgrade their equipment yet still wanted to keep their own businesses flowing. You were the first doctor to thoroughly explain simply AND in detail why you are skeptical about these new, trendy, procedures in addition to explaining the benefits of your chosen modality, in this case, tumescent with a small cannula. Thank you so much for taking the time to do so. You will, for sure, influence my future decisions no matter what I choose. I feels empowering to be properly informed.
June 12, 2009 at 6:57 am
I am really enjoying your videos! Thanks!