Smart lipo vs. tummy tuck

WHY is “Smart Lipo” often a VERY poor Choice when a Tummy Tuck is needed instead?

Ever since Start Wars and even before Americans fell in love with “The LASER”.

We went from watching swishing lasers on the screen to greatly (and often falsely) trusting lasers in everything else.

Let’s take a breath for a minute and ask ourselves WHAT does a pregnancy do to a woman’s body?

1. It PERMANENTLY stretches the tummy muscles. NO amount of exercise can bring them back. THAT is why women are constantly sucking it in, why they hate to be photographed in profile and why SPANX made millions for its inventor.

Smart lipo vs. tummy tuck surgery

As a result, women loose their hourglass figure and look more square, or masculine.

2. It PERMANENTLY stretches the skin generating more of it, resulting in an pooch or overhang AND in a downward rotation of the Mons pubis making it look old and sad.

3. It results in cracking of the stretched skin which is filled with scar tissue which is then falsely referred to as “Stretch marks”. These are NOT marks. These are through and through and through tummy tuck scar filled cracks in the skin making it less likely to recoil and shrink.

So, HOW would application of high temperatures from a laser liposuction machine reverse ANY of the above? It does NOT. Every Plastic surgeon has horrible pictures of people who came to them AFTER having “Smart Lipo” with burn scars and severe unrepairable indentations. The sad part is that these women wopuld have had MUCH better outcomes with a Tummy Tuck.

Smart lipo vs. tummy tuck operation

Liposuction or Suction Assisted Lipoplasty consists of the forceful removal of the fat under the skin (above the muscles) with hollow steel tubes (cannulae) hooked to very high suction. The fat is literally ripped into the tubing.

While there is SOME skin shrinkage associated with it (especially in younger, darker individuals without stretch marks) the operation WILL leave some hanging skin once the healing is done.

It CANNOT tighten the stretched out and damaged muscles caused by severe obesity or pregnancy. For your sake do NOT trust non-Plastic surgeons who promise you a flat tummy with only liposuction or Smart Lipo.

If this was true, WHY would Plastic surgeons, who consistently had to be the best in their classes to get to where they did, choose to do a longer, more tiresome operation (Abdominoplasty)?

Smart lipo vs. tummy tuck before photo

Above all do not have a SmartLipo like procedure. You will regret it.When you stop to consider just how large your pregnant tummy was at the end of each pregnancy you then can get an idea of the irreversible damage each women’s muscles suffer. The logical solution must then involve putting these muscles back together AND MORE.

So – in the vast number of women who had more than a single full term pregnancy the proper solution (however distaseful – scar etc) is muscle tightening, lifting of the sagginf Mons pubis and removal of all the loose skin and fat of the lower tummy resulting in a flatter tummy with an hourglass figure. This is NEVER matched with smart lipo. (Peter A. Aldea, MD, Memphis Plastic Surgeon)

Smart lipo vs. abdominoplasty

Liposuction is used to remove fat from underneath the skin. It requires skin of excellent quality to work properly. The skin must be elastic enough to rebound after the underlying fat is removed. If the skin cannot rebound, removing the fat with liposuction will leave the skin more saggy and uneven. Liposuction does not treat fat within the abdomen (behind the abdominal wall) that is around our organs.

I do not have any personal experience with smart liposuction. It appears that you have stretch marks, this suggests that your skin is thin. If you’re considering smart liposuction, you should see a surgeon who performs smart liposuction and tummy tucks. This person can advise you regarding the differences between smart liposuction and tummy tuck.

A tummy tuck uses an incision placed low on the abdomen, and an incision around the belly button. The skin is elevated, the abdominal wall above and below the belly button are tightened, and excess skin is removed.

The Smart lipo vs. tummy tuck

For patients with abdominal wall laxity, which is common after pregnancy, the tightening effect of the abdominal wall can have dramatic effects to flatten the tummy and narrow the waistline Given the quality of your skin, and what appears to be underlying abdominal wall laxity, it seems that you would receive the most improvement from a full tummy tuck. Consultation with a surgeon who performs smart liposuction and tummy tuck procedures is your best choice to receive an unbiased opinion. (Austin Hayes, MD, Portland Plastic Surgeon)

It is best to give advice after a full exam but from your photos, it appears you have a good amount of excess skin. Abdominoplasty would better address the excess skin. Liposuction will remove unwanted fat and help your contour, but it likely will not address your skin excess to a significant degree. Those I have spoken with that have had smart lipo were unimpressed with the amount of skin tightening that they noticed.

Smart lipo vs. tummy tuck photo before operation

If you are a good candidate for operation, I think you would be happier with results from abdominoplasty. (W. Bryant Walker, MD, )

Why tummy tuck and not smart lipo?

It is not possible on this site to spend the 45 minutes in consultation regarding why we make the recommendations we do, but liposuction of the fat out fromn under damaged skin such as you have makes the skin saggy and irregular. It does not tighten skin no matter how SMART the machine’s manufacturer tells you their product is. (Ronald V. DeMars, MD, Miami Plastic Surgeon)

Neither, get a liposculture of entire torso with a real plastic surgeon, beware of charlatans. Have fat injected in butt and breast. (Ofer Rodriguez, DO, San Antonio Plastic Surgeon)

It appears that you have skin excess and not fat. Liposuction will not treat your abdomen appropriately. (Gary Lawton, MD, FACS, )