Weight Gain After Liposuction

Liposuction is one of the most powerful tools we have today for body sculpting.  Standard suction lipectomy with small cannulas can result in a well sculpted aesthetically pleasing result.  A result anyone would be proud to maintain.  So I wonder why I get asked about weigh gain after liposuction during consultations.  Are patients planning on gaining weight after the surgery?  Actually it’s a very legitimate question and one that does require an explanation.

Similar to brain cells, fat cells achieve their maximum number early in childhood.  After this number is reached we will no longer add to the number of fat cells unless we gain approximately 100lbs over ideal body weight.  Instead as we gain weight the fat cells get larger.

When liposuction is performed fat cells are removed from the site never to be replaced (unless the patient gains significant weight).  So when the patient gains weight following liposuction there are less cells at the surgical site that will enlarge.  So for example if you normally gain weight in your abdomen and I perform liposuction on the abdomen, if you gain weight you will still gain it in the abdomen but since there are less cells the contour will still be smaller than the surrounding areas.  And no other areas won’t preferentially get larger.  People tend to gain weight in specific areas according to their genetics.

But really the question is moot because after obtaining that great surgical result most patient either continue to lose weight or maintain their post surgical weight.  To see some liposuction results click here then contact Dr. Hess for a complementary consultation in Fairfax, Virginia.