Advice on Liposuction

[iowaboy]

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I need advice on liposuction procedure,

I recently found out that a dear friend of mine has literally been saving thousands of dollars for a liposuction. From looking at him, he is certainly no where near being obese. He is about 6'2", and 250 lb. I would say (although i've never told him) that if he looses 20 lb, he'll look healthy. I think he told me he wears a size 38" jeans. I am really worried because I think he might actually go through with it. I want him to be aware of the dangers of the procedures and the recovery time. I've tried to convince him that if he does some regular exercise and watches what he eats, he'll loose that extra weight. But I'm afraid his self esteem is very low at the moment and he wants results instantly.
Does anyone know of any sources that would have information about liposuction procedure and about long term effects of the procedure that I could show him??? And also, does liposuction really help in removing adipocytes from your body? Thanks....

 

[Winged Scapula]

I'm sure a literature search can yield some articles on the long-term effects of lipoplasty (although remember that the technique has not been in use for very long). Lipoplasty is absolutely effective in removing adipose tissue - your friend will not regain adipocytes in the area removed, although remaining cells can certainly hypertrophy and he can gain fat in other areas if he eats a high fat diet and doesn't exercise. That is to say that while lipoplasty is perfect for reshaping isolated areas of fat accumulation, it is not a permanent procedure nor does it prevent reaccumulation of fat elsewhere in the body (obviously).

If he has an isolated collection of fat around his waist ("love handles") he may be an excellent candidate for the surgery, although often if he is obese (ie, fat all over) he may find some surgeons unwilling to do the procedure. The best advise is that which you've given - try and lose the excess weight and if he still has an isolated collection which he cannot lose, THEN consider lipoplasty.

 

[dyeguy21]

EDIT: I swear this was on the first page when I entered the allo forum.

It really does come down to their long term commitment to not regain the weight. If you are just "generally" fat its not great, but if it's "saddle bags", thighs touching, extreme belly fat, or under neck fat it is a great procedure that removes the adipocytes.

Exercising can also get great results, but it will never get rid of the fat cells. Fat cells CAN hypertrophy and divide if they get too big.

A lot of the people you see on "the biggest loser" have that problem, they not only have to deal with excess skin (prob. around 20-30lbs worth) they also NEED lipo afterwards to get rid of the now shrunken but still residual fat cells.

So if they "look" fat (i.e. has the love handles or fat under the chin) it is a great way to finally gain some relief from the constant emotional pain that not enjoying your body can bring.

 

[Hemichordate]

9 years later, and Winged Scapula still posts 😀

 

[MediCynical]

I don't have information on the procedure for you, but if your friend doesn't learn how to diet and/or exercise properly, liposuction is only a short-term solution and he'll gain the weight right back... and probably much quicker than he'd think.

Let's say your friend has 10 lbs of fat removed (I found a source that said that the limit is usually 5L or ~11 lbs of fat).

That 10lbs is about ~35,000 Calories of energy expenditure.

If your friend's weight is currently stable at 250lbs, he's eating about what he needs to maintain that weight. After a 10 lb loss, if he keeps his eating habits the same, he'll obviously be eating over maintenance. Now obviously this is a simplified calculation, but if he were to eat 750 Cals over maintenance per day after the surgery, it would only take ~46 days for him to gain all of the weight back.

I'd really continue to emphasize the importance of diet and exercise to your friend. If he cares about his general health in addition to his appearance, he should really forego the surgery and use the money for something else. Plus, losing the weight naturally is going to give proportional results all over his body, and I'm sure he'll gain much more confidence from seeing fat reductions in his face & neck rather than just his midsection.

Sorry for the long rant, but I've had too much coffee and I get frustrated with people who think there is some magic solution to weight-loss and body image issues.

 

[Rendar5]

I have a feeling the OP isn't going to receive this information. whatsup with ressurecting a 9+year old thread?

 

[Lbgem]

9 years later, and Winged Scapula still posts 😀

Omg! I actually know what that means now! Okay /end nerd moment. But yes...9 year old thread...damn and I gave it a free bump =/.

 

[MediCynical]

what the...

well I obviously didn't look at the first post close enough before I decided to respond

 

[tiedyeddog]

Omg! I actually know what that means now! Okay /end nerd moment. But yes...9 year old thread...damn and I gave it a free bump =/.

That long thoracic... tricky tricky.

 

[hmmmmm]

i'm guessing they didn't have gastric bypass back then 🙂

 

[theshellyb]

Liposuction threads should just be deleted entirely. Way too much of a spam magnet. Why this San Francisco surgeon thinks posting links on Student Doctor is a great idea, I have no clue. Have some self-respect man!

 

[Jolie South]

Medical advice. Closing.