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Non-Invasive Liposuction Procedures

By George Solomon | Published on April 1, 2010 | 0 Comments

Cosmetic surgeon Dr. George Solomon is an anti-aging expert at AgeLess MediSpa in Port Orange, Florida. He has won awards for his excellence in the field of cosmetic dermatology and surgery, and serves as a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, the International Medical Spa Association, and the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, among other respected organizations. In this piece, Dr. Solomon tells us what non-invasive liposuction procedures are available for patients.

The non-invasive liposuction procedures that we do are what we call ‘awake’ liposuction procedures, because our patients are able to be completely awake and coherent during their entire process.

Back in the old days, doctors used to do liposuction under general anesthesia. Now with the invention of something called tumescent liposuction, though, all of that has changed.
Tumescent liposuction was invented in the late 1980s by Dr. Jeffrey Klein. Thanks to his advances in the field of liposuction, we are now able to do any liposuction under local anesthesia rather than a general anesthesia with IV sedation.

Essentially, the tumescent liposuction anesthesia involves just a little lidocaine and saline, and then we will put some epinephrine and sodium bicarbonate into it. Once we have that concoction together, then all we need to do is inject that into the fat cells in our patients — wherever those specific fat cells may be, such as in the abdomen or the thighs or the hips — and the injected anesthesia will just numb up all the fat.

So once the fat inside a person’s body is numb, we can start getting rid of it while the patient is awake without any pain for the patient at all. It’s pretty amazing, when you think about it.

One main advantage of this type of local anesthesia is that is allows the patients to cooperate and even help a little bit during the procedure. When we ask the patient to roll over onto his side, for example, he can do that on his own without needing people to do it for him.

When a patient is undergoing a non-invasive liposuction procedure, he can even go to the bathroom in the middle, or something like that, if he wants. In fact, with just a little help from the nurses or the doctor, the patient can even stand up after the procedure has been finished and look in the mirror to see the results right in the room.

That way, if the patient feels like there is any asymmetry or any area that needs to be retouched or reduced a little further, we are able to do that right away when the patient is standing, rather than finish the procedure and then find out later on that there is an asymmetry or some area that is different from one side to the other. If that were to happen, then we might have to wait another six months before the patient is ready to undergo the liposuction procedure again.

So non-invasive liposuction and the invention of the tumescent liposuction anesthesia has given us a great way to cut down on the number of second, follow-up procedures that people request by a huge percentage.

Although there might be a couple doctors still doing liposuction under general anesthesia, I would say that the majority of these procedures are now done the non-invasive way these days.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Tags: liposuction, medical spas, non-invasive liposuction

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*Disclaimer: The information on this website is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

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