LIPOSUCTION SPECIALIST-Dr. Burr von Maur

Serving Newport Beach, Mission Viejo, and Orange County

Liposuction is the second most common cosmetic procedure performed on women in the United States. There were 287,932 liposuction performed in 2007 according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Liposuction is to remove unwanted fat as well as to precisely sculpt your figure. Removing unwanted fat from specific areas such as the abdomen, love handles, hips, thighs, neck, chin, cheeks, and arms is also know as suction-assisted lipectomy. Many patients have benefited tremendously from the precision procedures that are performed today using micro power-assist liposuction and combining this with the superwet techniques. Dieting and exercise are important; however many areas do not disappear unless they are treated mechanically with liposuction. Your surgeon will provide a brochure to help you understand more fully all the nuances of this procedure.

The best candidates for liposuction are patients who have expectations that are realistic and wish to improve their confidence and appearance and have satisfactory skin tone. If the patient is normal weight and has excellent elastic skin tone with localized pockets of excess fat in certain areas and is physically healthy, then these would be the best candidates. Patients with diminished skin elasticity are also satisfactory candidates if they continue to exercise and diet appropriately. When your surgery is planned, your general health will be assessed by your surgeon and different body contouring methods will be discussed including the possibility of a tummy tuck if there is excessive redundant skin in your tummy. Your consultation with your physician should be frank about your desires and expectations and you should be able to get the answers that you need. The Plastic Surgeon will assist you in deciding the right approach tailored specifically for you and he will discuss the appropriateness of your needs, effectiveness of the procedure, and safety at the same time. Your Plastic Surgeon will assist you in the appropriate judgment that needs to be made for this procedure. You are encouraged to choose a physician who is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgeons which would assure that this physician has graduated from an accredited medical school and has had many years of additional training, specifically in general surgery and plastic surgery. Prior to your surgery you should avoid excessive alcohol and smoking. Your surgery should be performed in an accredited outpatient surgical facility with board-certified anesthesiologists. Sometimes when smaller pockets of unwanted fat are removed, local anesthesia is possible; however, for larger contouring areas it is more advisable to use general anesthesia. The actual time required for liposculpture depends on the size of the areas being contoured. The superwet technique assists tremendously in assisting with shaping and decreased blood loss. With todays power-assist techniques, smaller cannulas are used and precision is much more accurate. The superwet or Atumescent procedures are utilized routinely because they assist both in shaping and decreasing blood loss. A small amount of local aesthetic is also utilized at the same time which reduces postoperative pain.

Liposuction surgery carries some risks that are minimum. If you have your procedure in an accredited surgical center with a Orange County Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon your risks are reduced. It is important to ask the physician about the number of procedures he has performed to assess his skill level and also request to look at before and after photographs that the surgeon has performed