How is Liposuction Different from a Tummy Tuck?

Dr. Foster performs both Tummy Tuck and Liposuction procedures for his patients in Lake Tahoe and Reno. Both the procedures are substantially different from each other. Liposuction only removes and re-contours the superficial fat. This is the fat between the muscle layer and the skin. In some cases, the fat can be five or six inches thick, but in a normal postpartum woman who has had one or two babies, the layer of fat can be nearly two inches thick.

Nature ordains that women do collect some amount of fat all over their body, particularly on the tummy after pregnancy. If they have not spread their muscles apart by delivering a bigger sized baby, and do not need muscle repair, just a little liposuction maybe all that many of these women need. In most cases, a liposuction is frequently performed in combination with a Tummy Tuck, but not in the front of the tummy.

Liposuction has its limits on the amount of fat which can be removed in a single sitting. This is important to understand because there have been over 200 cases of deaths in the United States due to excessive liposuction. Most of these deaths have happened at the hands of people who were not Board Certified plastic surgeons. The fact is that liposuction is such an easy procedure to learn that many doctors take a weekend crash course, and start up a career in liposuction. More often than not, such endeavors end up badly because of the risks that are not apparent to a beginner.

Dr. Foster chooses a very safe approach to Liposuction, and will not remove more than three liters of fat in a single day from one patient. For outpatient procedures, the maximum safe limit is to remove five liters of fat, but Dr. Foster restricts his limit to three liters. It is also safe to remove higher volumes of fat at a hospital, under the supervision of multiple doctors. But in such cases the patient must stay at the hospital overnight, and the cost of such procedures is likely to increase accordingly.

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