Do I really need a tummy tuck or could I get away with just having liposuction? This is the question that I often get asked from Los Angeles women who are considering body contouring plastic surgery.
Liposuction or suction lipectomy is a cosmetic surgery procedure which suctions fat from under the skin. There are several liposuction techniques in Los Angeles, including liposculpture, tumescent liposuction, ultrasonic liposuction, and laser liposuction. In Beverly Hills liposuction is performed either under local or general anesthesia depending on the extent and location of liposuction. While subcutaneous fat can be removed with liposuction, visceral fat which surrounds the intestines can not be suctioned. This makes liposuction ideal for body contouring by suctioning localized areas of excess fat, but not for total body fat reduction or weight loss.
What happens to the skin after liposuction? As you could imagine after removal of much subcutaneous fat there is going to be excess skin. Does this excess skin hang? Amazingly, tumescent liposuction causes significant shrinkage of the skin, but this is not limitless and the extent of skin shrinkage depends on skin elasticity, age, sun damage, and the history of repetitive weight gain and loss. Stretch marks represent areas where skin has lost its elasticity, therefore, in these areas skin does not shrink well with liposuction. Under such circumstances removal of excess skin would be the only way to achieve a smooth and tight skin.
Tummy Tuck is a plastic surgery procedure with the predominant goal of removing excess loose skin of the abdomen. While liposuction can remove excess abdominal fat, it can not remove loose skin. Therefore, an abdominoplasty is the solution for women who have loose abdominal skin folds as a result of pregnancy or weight loss.
For those who have both excess localized abdominal fat, as well as loose skin, a type of tummy tuck is ideal- High Tension Abdominoplasty. This version of tummy tuck removes loose abdominal skin folds including stretch marks, tightens the stretched-out abdominal muscles, pulls up and tightens upper thighs and hips, as well as liposuctions the flanks, lower back, and parts of the abdomen in order to produce a more curvaceous figure. In another words, High Tension Abdominoplasty is a merger between a tummy tuck and liposuction.
Dr. Younai is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon who is an expert in body contouring, including liposuction, tummy tuck and High Tension Abdominoplasty.
At the California Center for Plastic Surgery Dr. Younai is will review your treatment options for body contouring and tummy tuck, including pros and cons of each procedure, potential risks and complications, recovery course, pre and post operative instructions, and esthetic outcomes. There are also many before-and-after pictures and high resolution images of abdominoplasty available in our photo gallery.
Dr. Younai receives patients from the Northern as well as the Southern California region. Some of these cities include Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Burbank, Pasadena, Glendale, Valencia, Palmdale, Fresno, Bakersfield, and Oxnard.
Dr. Younai performs his surgeries at the Regency Surgery Center which is certified by Medicare, AAAHC, and AAAASF. This state-of-the-art facility is located in Encino, and near Sherman Oaks, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, and thousand Oaks.
