Facts about Laser Assisted Liposuction You Should Know

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Yeti | Dec 13, 2010 |

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In the past, surgeons only used one method of liposuction, and that was to make an incision on the target area of the body, insert a cannula and move it back and forth to liquefy the fat before suctioning it out of the body. However, sometimes fat is difficult to dissolve and depending on the way the cannula is moved about, some patients may suffer swelling, bleeding, irritation, numbing and bloating on the area after surgery. In worst cases, the patient develops serious complications and requires hospitalization and follow-up surgeries.

With the need to make liposuction less invasive and lower its complications during recovery, many alternate methods have been devised. One of the newer methods is laser assisted liposuction, which like its name suggests, uses the help of a laser in dissolving fat.

Laser assisted liposuction was first developed in Europe and its main goal is to lessen the pain, bruising and swelling of the target area, which is often seen in traditional liposuction procedures. Low-strength laser energy waves are aimed at the area of the body which will undergo liposuction. These energy waves go beyond the skin and penetrate the fat cells underneath, breaking them down without leaving marks and disturbing the skin. The fat cells break down easily because the energy waves destroy the membrane which holds the cells together.

Because the fat is already dissolved beforehand, the incision doesn't have to be as big as those in regular liposuction operations because not a lot of room is needed for the cannula to move around anymore. The fat is then suctioned out similar to other liposuction methods. The settings of the laser waves are continually reconfigured throughout the whole procedure to make sure there is little or no inflammation, pain and swelling. With this procedure, more liposuction procedures could be done on an outpatient basis and the patient would only need to return the next day should they need help with pain management.

This method of laser liposuction is recommended for people who need work done on their love handles, abdomen, neck, and arms. People who use laser assisted liposuction for their arms also opt to remove the sweat glands from their armpits via laser waves to decrease sweat production. This process can also be used for the knees, thighs, hips and large breasts.

Some surgeons use an external laser source for the procedure, while newer technology has introduced a laser embedded into the probe itself. The probe is used instead of the usual cannula because of its smaller size, which lessens the risk of disturbing other organ systems during the procedure.