Abdominal Liposuction by Eoin Beckett

Flattening your Tummy

Many people become discouraged after losing unwanted weight without seeing a flatter tummy. The body's overall proportions may be unbalanced, or the abdomen may still have areas of fatty tissue that cause it to bulge out. Liposuction can successfully trim excess fat in the abdomen for a flatter tummy and slimmer, balanced shape.

For this reason, abdominal liposuction is commonly requested by both men and women who desire a flatter stomach. Both men and women can develop excess abdominal fat in the upper, lower, or both areas of the stomach.

Abdominal liposuction is not, however, used very often as a weight loss technique. People requesting abdominal liposuction have usually tried various significant types of exercise programs and even though they have benefited in other ways from the program, they just can not get rid of the excess fat around the stomach area.

Preparing for Abdominal Liposuction

If you have decided to go ahead with abdominal liposuction, you should be prepared to answer some, if not all, of the following questions:

    * What is the most you have ever weighed?
    * What is the least you have weighed since high school?
    * What about when you were pregnant?
    * How many times have you gained and lost weight?
    * What has been your trend in the last year?
    * How stable is your weight now?
    * Does you gain or lose weight under emotional stress?
    * How often do you take exercise?
    * How long have you been taking regular exercise?
    * Do you enjoy your exercise or do you just do it to improve your looks?
    * Do you participate in team sports?
    * Were you keen on sport at school?
    * Have you ever had a personal trainer?
    * How often do you eat sweets, go out to dinner, drink alcohol, eat junk food?
    * Have you tried one of the popular diets, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, Atkins, Zone, Pritikin or the Ornish diet?
    * How successful have your dieting been?

Tumescent Liposuction

In the super-wet liposuction technique, a saline solution containing a local anesthetic and adrenaline is injected into the area to be treated, which makes the fat deposits easier to break up and extract. This extra fluid also minimizes trauma to the surrounding tissue, reducing swelling and post-operative pain. The administration of adrenaline also decreases bleeding during surgery, further reducing risks.

The tumescent technique, in which even larger amounts of liquid solution are injected, has similar benefits. Only a local anesthesia is required, which eliminates the cost and risks associated with general anesthesia.

Two Kinds of Abdominal Fat

There are two kinds of abdominal fat:
    1. Subcutaneous fat is found immediately below the surface of the skin. This is readily removed by abdominal liposuction.
    2. Intra-abdominal fat occurs inside the intestinal loops near the mesentery.  This type of abdominal fat can not be eliminated by abdominal liposuction because it is inside the abdomen and not directly beneath the skin.

Why not do this quick test to find out which kind of tummy fat you have?  Pinch a roll of fat between the fingers and thumb. If you can easily move this fat up and down the chances are that it is subcutaneous and can be treated by abdominal liposuction. Of course your doctor will quickly be able to determine what kind of tummy fat you have.

Recovery from the Abdominal Liposuction Procedure

Most people that have an abdominal liposuction performed are able to get up and walk around immediately after the surgery. In fact, it is recommended that you take a small walk the same day begin light activity as soon as possible.

Most people are able to return to work within a few days if their work is fairly sedentary. However, strenuous activities should be avoided for several weeks as the body heals. Within 4 to 6 weeks the patient should be able to resume all normal activities. It’s important to continue wearing the compression garment, which should be easily hidden under your clothing, until your doctor declares it is no longer necessary.

How Long the Effect of Abdominal Liposuction Last

Because a portion of the fat cells are permanently removed by liposuction, so you will not tend to regain weight in that area. It is important to note, however, that abdominal liposuction does not guarantee that you won’t gain weight or fat deposits in other areas of your body. Moreover, since fat cells have been removed from the treatment site but not from surround areas, this weight gain can appear uneven. It is important to maintain your weight and contour with exercise and proper diet.