Ever since Liposuction was introduced, 30 years ago, as an effective means of body fat removal, men and women have flocked to plastic surgeons to get rid of stomach fat, back fat, and to reduce the circumference of hips and thighs. In 2011, Liposuction was the most comon cosmetic surgery, performed on more than one million men and women, according to statistics released by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. This is an alarming statistic considering that Liposuction is a highly invasive surgery, which carries severe, if not potentially life threatening complications.
Fortunately, breakthroughs in medical technology have provided effective stomach fat removal procedures that are far less intrusive than traditional Liposuction. One of these alternative procedures to Liposuction is called Liposonix.
The differences between Liposuction and Liposonix
Now that the cosmetic industry offers more than one option for getting rid of belly fat, it is important to understand the differences between Liposuction and Liposonix. While both Liposuction and Liposonix have the same objective, to get rid of belly fat, and other fatty areas on the body, their methods of doing so are very different. Knowing these difference will help you assess which procedure is best for you.
Liposuction is a serious surgical procedure that requires anesthesia and a surgical room and staff. During Liposuction, a surgeon uses a scalpel to cut an incision and insert a small tube into the patient’s fatty layer. The surgeon aggressively stabs at the fat to break it up, and then removes it using a suction device.
Liposonix, in contrast, is a markedly gentler procedure. No scalpels, no anesthesia, and no stitches. Liposonix gets rid of stomach fat using ultrasonic energy. During the procedure, a licensed Liposonix technician uses a handheld device, moving it over the treatment area, sending waves of ultrasonic energy exclusively into the fatty area. The surrounding nerves and skin tissue remain unaffected. Once the fat cells absorb the ultrasonic energy, they begin to die. The dead fat cells are naturally removed from the body through the lymphatic system over the next several weeks.
Obviously, after a serious surgical procedure such as Liposuction, the body will need ample time to heal from the incisions and recover from the trauma created by the invasive fat removal. This recovery period can be long and painful.
Liposonix, on the other hand, is often performed during a person’s lunch break. Many patients even return to their work, and other typical activities immediately after the procedure. Some patients may experience mild bruising around the treatment area, but it is temporary, and does not cause much discomfort.
In 2011, the FDA cleared Liposonix to reduce fat from the stomach and flank regions. Liposuction on the other hand can reduce fat from arms, legs, and even the neck and face. This is why Liposonix should only be considered for removing unwanted body fat from the stomach, back, waist, hips, butt, thighs, and upper arms.
Liposuction is an aggressive cosmetic surgery aimed to remove a large amount of body fat, all within the window of a single surgery. Therefore, results are immediate (although it takes months for the swelling to completely go down to see the difference) and usually extensive.
Liposonix, on the other hand, was designed to reducestubborn fat deposits that do not respond to diet and exercise. Since Liposonix uses the body’s lymphatic system to naturally dispose of fat, results take about 8-12 weeks to ultimately reveal the results. While Liposuction removes a lot more fat, in a lot less time, plastic surgeons are still very impressed with Liposonix’s ability to get rid of one inch of stomach fat, with just a single, one hour treatment. For those patients who want to lose more than an inch of stomach fat, further Liposonix treatments are available.
One of the first pieces of information people want to know when discovering which fat removal procedure is right for them, is how much does Liposuction cost compared to how much Liposonix costs.
This is a hard question to concretely answer, because costs are heavily influenced by location, the quality of provider, and the areas being treated.
There are several costs incurred with Liposuction that do not apply with Liposonix, such as surgeons bills, anesthesiologist fees, and bills from the hospital for a surgical room and hospital bed. One average, Liposonix is more than half the cost of Liposuction
Learn more about Liposonix from the leading NYC Liposonix provider, SKINNEY Medspa, to find out how easy it is to lose one inch of fat, in one hour.
Candidate qualifications is another area where Liposuction is very different from Liposonix.
Patients who opt for Liposuction usually have a substantial amount of body fat to be removed from the treatment area. The patient must at least be healthy enough to withstand the stress and trauma surgical procedures put on the body.
Liposonix is meant to help healthy men and women who struggle to get rid of stubborn fat deposits despite their efforts using diet and exercise. Candidates for Liposonix must have a Body Mass Index of 30 or less. Also, good candidates for Liposonix should have at least an inch of pinchable fat around their midsection.
