Archive for July, 2009

A Guide to Tumescent Liposuction

Finding out information on tumescent liposuction is very important if this is a procedure that you are interested in going through with. This is not only for your own safety, but as well to ensure that you are as comfortable and prepared for the procedure as possible. In comparison to most other cosmetic surgery procedures, tumescent liposuction is not considered as being a major procedure, but is still a procedure nonetheless.

Therefore you need to take it seriously and you need to learn the details about this procedure and make yourself more comfortable before going into it.

What it is

Do you know just what tumescent liposuction is? Many people have a misconception about this procedure, and although it is a good fix for some people, it may not even address the issues that you are concerned with. If you are overweight and want to lose a ton of weight, this is not going to be the right procedure for you. Tumescent liposuction is simply not going to change your body figure that much.

Instead, it is going to be able to remove excess fat pockets from off your body, for instance if you have lost a great deal of weight and have fat left over, liposuction can help to remove it and leave you feeling better about yourself.

What Happens

For liposuction, a tube is inserted through a very small incision in order to suction the fat, and the tube is then pushed and pulled through the fat layer, breaking up the fat cell and vacuuming them out as a result. It is really no different than any other type of plastic surgery, but tumescent liposuction tends to have less risks and complications than others.

It is important to be aware of the possible dangers of liposuction. It is important to remember that liposuction is a surgical procedure but it is not risk free. Lumps and bumps are often a result of liposuction and these are often very unsightly. There are scars as well that you may be left with, and post-operative liposuction scars are permanent, so you will want to be aware of this before going into it.

Usually only two incisions will need to be made to perform the procedure and so it is not like you will be left with lots of different scars all over your body. Swelling is another common side effect of the procedure, but by wearing an appropriately fitting garment afterwards this will help to deal with the swelling.

Tumescent Liposuction Risks?

When it concerns undergoing any form of surgery there are a number of associated risks that need to be understood and acted upon. So too when it concerns tumescent liposuction there are a number of tumescent liposuction risks that must be understood and there are in fact two main risks that you must be aware of before making up your mind to go in for this form of fat removal procedure. The first important tumescent liposuction risks is the one known as lidocaine toxicity while the other major tumescent liposuction risks is accumulation of fluids.

Lidocaine Toxicity

Lidocaine toxicity normally only occurs when the doctor injects excessive amounts of lidocaine into the patient’s body and then it becomes hard for the body to break down the excess lidocaine as its metabolism will not be able to handle such conditions and when too much lidocaine is present in the body it can lead to the second tumescent liposuction risk which is that of fluid accumulation.

Infections are another form of tumescent liposuction risk that can even prove to be life threatening as well as very serious. In fact, one such serious infection is the one known as necrotizing fasciitis in which bacteria begins to eat away tissues in the body. Another common form of infection that you should watch out for, toxic shock syndrome is serious and can also prove to be fatal.

Embolism is another type of tumescent liposuction risk and this is one risk that often arises whenever the fat becomes loose and gets into the blood through a ruptured blood vessel and then this fatty matter can get stuck in the blood vessels or gathers in the lungs or even can travel to the brain.

Visceral perforations might occur when the intestines get punctured during an abdominal tumescent liposuction procedure and when any organs get damaged then repairing them is only possible through further surgical procedures. This is too is another serious tumescent liposuction risk.

Another important tumescent liposuction risk, nerve compression as well as changes in your sensations occur following the treatment and these can lead to sensitivity in the affected area and also experiencing numbness. In addition, you should learn about common tumescent liposuction risks such as swelling, burns and fluid imbalances.

Some women actually prefer undergoing tumescent liposuction breast reduction procedures. The plain truth is that women that have extra large breasts might consider reducing the size of their breasts and this in turn can make them opt for tumescent liposuction. Other reasons to take this option include being physically impaired and also because of certain psychological reasons.

It Is Best To Evaluate Tumescent Liposuction Results After Six Months Have Elapsed

As with any form of surgery so too with tumescent liposuction, it is necessary to realize a few things at the outset. Patients need to be worried about the kinds of results that will be forthcoming once the desired treatment has been completed. Liposuction helps to provide some notable results but is generally most useful in helping with removing pockets of fat in people that find it quite difficult to remove the fat through use of exercise and diet. One of the things that you will get to learn in regard to determining what kind of tumescent liposuction results you can expect is that following tumescent liposuction you will have to deal with some amount of swelling as well as bruising.

Very Little Loss Of Blood

However, as compared with traditional liposuction, tumescent liposuction results are far less worrisome and even bleeding are not a major concern. However, if you are to undergo tumescent liposuction it is then quite realistic to expect that in order to get the procedure performed it requires taking a few days break from work to help you recover sufficiently to resume your daily activities. This is the time it takes for you to completely recover though tumescent liposuction results and also the time taken to heal vary from person to person.

Furthermore, to get the final tumescent liposuction results it is also necessary that patients wait for up to 6 months after which you will get to see how well or poorly the procedure was. Nevertheless, you can see some tumescent liposuction results immediately after the procedure has been completed though these results will be partial at best. You will however be able to feel that the fat is no longer present where the tumescent liposuction was performed.

What’s more, the solution used in the tumescent liposuction procedure will remain in the body for a few days and so it makes it hard to distinguish the real tumescent liposuction results from what was the case prior to getting the procedure done. There is also sure to be some swelling which may create an impression that the fat is still there. It is therefore safe to say that about four weeks after the tumescent liposuction procedure has been performed that patients will be able to notice definite tumescent liposuction results and that after these four weeks there will also be continuous improvement – albeit slowly – but which will continue up to six months from the time of the procedure having been completed. So, it is only after these six months are over that you will definitely see what the final tumescent liposuction results are.

In regard to tumescent liposuction recovery times it has to be emphasized that the time taken will vary according to whether the procedure was performed under local or general anesthesia. In the former case, there is hardly any recovery time to talk about though in the case of general anesthesia recovery can take a few days more.

Liposuction Tumescent Technique: Anesthesia Or Super Wet?

The right kind of liposuction tumescent technique will definitely ensure minimal bruising and pain and there is also not much risk of suffering from much swelling either. In fact, if the doctor is an expert in the proper liposuction tumescent techniques they will then be able to ensure practically no loss of blood and what’s more, there will also not is any need to go for any kind of blood transfusion process. Typically, a common liposuction tumescent technique is to first inject the patient with some anesthesia solution that is aimed into the affected area so that proper fat sculpting can begin.

Saline Mixture, Some Lidocaine And Epinephrine

This anesthesia solution generally is comprised of saline mixture and lidocaine as well as epinephrine. Once injected, this solution will numb the affected area so as to enable the doctor to continue with the liposuction tumescent technique while the patient is awake but not feeling any pain or discomfort. By using sufficiently large amounts of this solution it is possible to inflate or even tumesce the fatty compartments and this in turn helps ensure that the fat will begin to swell up and firm up.

When this happens it is much easier for the doctor to use cannulas which are passed beneath the surface of the skin and which ensures smoother removal of fat. When performing the anesthesia based liposuction tumescent technique doctors can vary the amount of it to suit different patient’s needs. In most cases, doctors prefer injecting anesthesia that is thrice the amount of fat that needs to be removed and in majority of instances use of local anesthesia is sufficient to perform the liposuction tumescent procedure.

However, if the affected area is very large or it is hard to reach the fatty area then doctors might need to inject general anesthesia and in such cases the anesthesia liposuction tumescent technique will take longer to complete.

Another common liposuction tumescent technique, the one called super wet, is very similar to anesthetic liposuction tumescent technique but in this case the amount of anesthesia injected is much less and is typically as much as the fat that needs to be removed. In this liposuction tumescent technique, it is common for doctors to use IV sedation or what is known as general anesthesia and the procedure itself takes between one to two hours to complete.

In regard to understanding tumescent liposuction swelling there are a few considerations that should be addressed. One is that the swelling can occur in a variety of directions. This means that if the swelling occurs outwardly it becomes visible to everyone while if the swelling occurs inwardly then only the patient will know about the swelling. However, in virtually every instance, after tumescent liposuction some amount of swelling is bound to occur.

Understanding How Long Does Tumescent Liposuction Recovery Time Take

In regard to the time taken for a patient to affect complete tumescent liposuction recovery there is in fact no one pre-determined fixed time period within which a patient can expect to recover completely. The plain truth is that tumescent liposuction recovery times vary from individual to individual and in some instances it is possible for the patient to walk out of the clinic without being assisted and they can continue living their normal lives without any problem. In other cases, tumescent liposuction recovery times can prove to be lengthier though if the patient makes an effort to move about as early as possible chances of their recovering earlier will improve and so the time taken to completely recover will be less.

Wait For Six Weeks

However, if a person is unfortunate they could require as many as six weeks before tumescent liposuction recovery can be completed and in this time period the scars will soften up but it may still take an entire year for complete healing to take place. In addition, before tumescent liposuction recovery is complete the patient will perhaps feel temporary feelings of numbness in the affected areas and the reason for this is that anesthesia that was administered will still be present in the tissues and this leads to experiencing the numbing feeling.

In some cases, patients might even experience some minor sort of discomfort even after the numbness has worn away and so this may lead to tumescent liposuction recovery times taking a bit longer. In any case, till complete recovery has been affected it is not recommended that the patient does any form of physical exercise and in fact, they also need to wait for a whole week after completion of surgery before attempting to do physical exercises.

One possible means to affect quicker tumescent liposuction recovery is to ensure wearing compression garments for the first few days following the procedure. However, getting as much rest as is possible is recommended and it is also more advisable that you do not drive a vehicle and instead allow someone else to drive you about – at least for the first few days following completion of your tumescent liposuction procedure.

Before you go for tumescent liposuction procedure it is definitely a good idea to allow a doctor to evaluate your condition in order to determine whether or not you are a good candidate for tumescent liposuction techniques. Most people do qualify for regular liposuction but for tumescent liposuction there is need for the doctor to evaluate your medical history to ensure that the tumescent liposuction procedure can be performed without risk of causing further complications.

Caroline Bourke

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