By Lois W. Stern, Editor-at-Large, Makemeheal.com

With the many innovations of modern day plastic surgery, none seems to be gaining in popularity more rapidly than a variety of emerging technologies for the removal of unwanted body fat. Although diet and exercise remain the first line of defense against weight gain, when it comes to eliminating stubborn pockets of fat, these strategies often have fallen short of expectations. Enter modern day fat removal technologies.

With increasing interest in issues of health and beauty, it is little wonder that a number of plastic surgery technologies have stepped up to the plate to meet popular demand, while addressing America’s fixation with the battle of the bulge. According to statistics gathered by the ASAPS (American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery), last year lipoplasty (liposuction) ranked second in frequency of all surgical procedures performed in the United States with a total of 309,692 lipoplasty procedures. Within this number, 90% were performed on women, a figure consistent with the overall gender ranking for all surgical procedures.

Although tumescent liposuction is still an effective procedure for the removal of large fat deposits, one of the disadvantages of this procedure is its tendency to leave behind unattractive, loose skin. This is where Smartlipo, an innovative laser-assisted device, enters the playing field. It is also one of the reasons it is rapidly becoming the gold standard for the removal of unwanted body fat. In some cases, Smartlipo, also known as lipolysis, is being used as a viable substitute for tumescent liposuction. In other cases, where larger amounts of body fat are involved, Smartlipo is being effectively employed as a complement to traditional liposuction by helping surgeons tighten the loose skin left behind from a tumescent liposuction procedure.

Typically, areas treated effectively through Smart Lipo technology include the chin and neck areas, inner and outer thighs, knees, abdomen, upper arms, hips, “bra fat”, “love handles“, and male breasts.

Before/After Photos Courtesy of Dr. Barry DiBarnardo

How Smartlipo Works

Board certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Alan Kisner, explains how Smart Lipo works:

“Normally the patient is injected with a local anesthesia before the lipolysis procedure. Treatment begins when the surgeon inserts a micro-cannula (tiny tube) about the size of a thick syringe needle into the skin. The tiny incision made for the entrance of the cannula is so small that no stitches are required after the procedure.“

“A three hundred to six hundred micron optical fiber is placed within this micro-

cannula, which is approximately 1.0 mm to 2.0 mm in diameter. This optical fiber extends two mm beyond the cannula. Because the aiming beam is very bright, it is visible through the skin, enabling the surgeon to see exactly where he is working. The laser causes small blood vessels to coagulate immediately, keeping bleeding, swelling and bruising normally associated with traditional fat removal techniques to a minimum.“

“As the surgeon moves this cannula in a slow, fan-like motion through various depths of fat tissue, the optic fiber delivers laser energy in short pulses, which heat the targeted fat cells in the top layers of the patient’s skin. These fat cells rupture and liquefy. The resultant oily liquid substance is then removed with another micro-cannula.“

Of particular significance with any fat melting technique lies a concern for what happens to that fat as it is melted within the body. With Smartlipo, research has shown that little if any fat is reabsorbed into the body.

Further benefits of Smartlipo include both its potential for stimulating the formation of new collagen and for its reduction of cellulite.

During treatment, controlled wounding results in stimulation of new cells under the patient’s skin, which is thought to produce new collagen. Furthermore, the thermal energy within the dermis causes shrinkage of the fat cells residing between the collagen fibers (the bands that keep our skin tight and in place). When fat cells are removed from between these bands, it may result in reduction of cellulite.

Before/After Photos Courtesy of Dr. Jeff Schafer

Before/After Photos Courtesy of Dr. Bruce Katz

Recovery After Smartlipo

The recovery period after a Smartlipo procedure is brief and relatively painless. Patients are typically sent home within one hour after the completion of the procedure with compression bandages to prevent affected tissues from shifting. In some cases, surgeons recommend that the patient wear a compression garment for a short period of time during recovery. Minor bruising and numbness occur after the procedure, but disappear within days after leaving the recovery room. Swelling is normally observable for the first week and gradually tapers off thereafter. Normally one is able to return to work within two to three days and is able to resume exercise and full activities after two weeks. Results become visible within one week, with continued improvement noted over a three to six month period.

Improvements in Smartlipo Technology

The first Smartlipo design was pioneered in Europe and South America beginning in the year 2000. In November, 2006, it became the first laser assisted liposuction technology approved by the FDA. Made by Cynosure, the original Smartlipo machine has already undergone improvement to increase its effectiveness. The newer model, the Smartlipo MPX, employs 2 lasers: the 1064 to treat the deeper fat and 1032 laser to tighten the skin. This model also incorporates some practical innovations in response to plastic surgeon input. Early models worked effectively but slowly, causing considerable surgeon fatigue. As surgeons expressed a need for a model that would work more rapidly, Cynosure searched for a solution, which they amusingly reached while observing the Wii Video Game system in action. Noting how the Wii chip responded to the speed and motion of the user’s arm while swinging a tennis racket or tossing a bowling ball, Cynosure was inspired to develop and insert a similar chip into their latest Smartlipo design, to respond to the speed and motion of the surgeon’s arm during the lipolysis procedure.

Smartlipo Costs

Smartlipo costs will vary depending upon the surgeon performing the procedure, the surgeon’s experience and location as well as the size of the areas to be treated. Although costs for Smartlipo tend to be a slightly higher than those of other modern liposuction techniques, other factors likely to reduce the overall cost need to be considered, including lower anesthesia and recovery charges. Another factor worth considering is the shortened recovery time following Smartlipo due to minimal tissue trauma, which spells less time lost from work.

Look for Dr. Kisner’s chapter, When Diet and Exercise Aren’t Enough, with his amazing before/after photographs in my about-to-be-published book, Tick Tock, Stop the Clock – Getting Pretty on Your Lunch Hour.

Lois W. Stern, Editor-At-Large at Makemeheal.com, is a beauty expert and author of Sex, Lies and Cosmetic Surgery and Tick Tock Stop the Clock. Lois and Patty Kovacs are the co-founders of Coast to Coast - Eye on Beauty Newsletter.

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February 6, 2009 - Los Angeles, CA

Make Me Heal (www.makemeheal.com), the world’s largest website for all things plastic surgery, cosmetic treatments, and anti-aging, has announced that over fifty top plastic surgeons have joined Makemeheal.com to answer questions live that are posted by consumers on the website’s Ask-An-Expert area. Launched in November of 2008, Ask-an-Expert is a free service that allows consumers to ask a question and get key answers from top doctors and experts about any procedure or topic within the fields of plastic surgery, dermatology, and skin care. Moreover, regular people from the Makemeheal.com community can also post responses to questions.

“Ask-an-Expert is rapidly becoming one of Makemeheal.com’s most popular areas of our portal, as it allows consumers to ask important questions and get answers from different leading doctors and experts at a click of a button — and for free,” says Ariel Perets, Founder & CEO of Makemeheal.com.

Aside from asking questions, users can simply use this incredible resource to do research numerous types of procedures, treatments, and products using sophisticated search functions on Ask-an-Expert.

Among the physicians answering questions on the Makemeheal.com site include Dr. Marcel Daniels, Dr. Brent Moelleken, Dr. Shervin Naderi, Dr. Alexander Rivkin, and other top plastic surgeons.

Check out Ask-An-Expert.

About Make Me Heal

Make Me Heal (www.makemeheal.com) is the world’s largest website for all things plastic surgery, beauty enhancement, and anti-aging.  With 1 million members and over 300,000 unique visitors per month, Make Me Heal is a one-stop portal for all the products, services, and information resources needed by the consumer.

Discover The Make Me Heal World…

• Find a great plastic surgeon on Makemeheal.com’s Plastic Surgeons Directory, check credentials, and read patient reviews of doctors.

• Chat, ask questions, and get advice from people on our Message Boards & Blogs.

• View or upload Before & After Plastic Surgery Pictures in the world’s largest photo library of women and men who’ve had plastic surgery.

• Ask top plastic surgeons questions & get answers live on Make Me Heal’s Ask-An-Expert area.
• Shop for Plastic Surgery Recovery & Preparation Products and Beauty & Skin Care Products.
  
• Read Plastic Surgery News & Gossip.

Visit the website: Make Me Heal

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There is truly no body part today that is spared from plastic surgery and the shoulders are the latest area that some women may be looking to enhance.  Celebrities like Madonna and Keira Knightly have apparently set a new beauty standard for slender shoulders that some women are hoping to attain by going under the knife.

Some surgeons in New York are reporting a rise in women getting liposuction in their shoulders to vaccum out fat and achieve more defined shoulders.  The procedure seems to be a standard liposuction, where small incisions are placed in the natural creases and shadows of the shoulder area.  The surgeon then aspirates the fat out with a curved suction cannula (wand).  There are some surgeons who use laser-assisted liposuction like Smartlipo or Vaser to melt the fat and then suck it out.

“Many of my patients are now requesting shoulders like Madonna and Keira Knightley,” said Dr. Douglas Steinbrech to the Daily Mail. The New York-based plastic surgeon said that the procedure costs between $4,000-$10,000, is relatively pain free and patients can return to work within a few days.

“I often perform the operation on a Thursday or Friday and they recover all weekend with anti-inflammatories and painkillers and go back to work on Monday,” he said.

But not everyone believes that shoulder liposuction is going to be a growing trend or that it should be, as the shoulders are not typically an area that has accumulations of fat as other body areas.  If someone really has a lot of fat around the shoulders, they probably need to lose weight instead of thinking about liposuction in the area.

Beverly Hills, CA-based liposuction expert Dr. David Amron, who only performs liposuction at his practice, told Make Me Heal that he has never seen a candidate for shoulder liposuction in the thousands of evaluations.

“I do lipo on almost every area of the body and even many areas most people don’t,” said Dr. Amron.  “But the shoulders themselves are an area I have never seen that needs to be done”.

“I strongly feel that if someone has fat shoulders then it typically is a musculoskeletal issue of larger muscles and bones and maybe that they need to lose weight.  Remember, lipo targets genetic disproportion of fat.”

“I am not saying I wouldn’t, but I have never seen a candidate for this area in thousands and thousands of evaluations.”

“When I do lipo on the arms and upper back, which is quite common, the shoulders have a more defined look.  But I would not be marketing this as shoulder liposuction to have the look of an actress.”

It appears that liposuction on the shoulders should really a last resort solution, as a patient is best advised to lose the weight first before considering a surgical option.  Moreover, if someone is going to get liposuction on the shoulders, one would think that they probably would need it in other areas as well to get a consistent toned look in the entire body.  But if you have the dough, and exercise and diet alone can’t help you rid of that final pesky fat pocket on your shoulder, maybe shoulder liposuction may be right for you.

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By David M. Amron, M.D.

As a physician and surgeon, one of my main responsibilities is to honestly guide, educate, advise and protect my patients. As liposuction surgery is the only major cosmetic surgery I perform and I have done this procedure for 14 years for thousands of patients, I have a lot of opinions and insight into the nuances of consistently achieving a great result and making my patient happy. I have spent years fine tuning my approach and have a particular philosophy on what constitutes a good candidate for liposuction. It is so much more than sucking out or melting as much fat as possible. Despite what a patient may want or the mistaken goal of a surgeon, this approach will commonly lead to a poor result.

One of the most important points I want to emphasize is the importance of choosing the honesty, integrity, artistry, eyes, hands, skills and good judgment of the surgeon over the machine. The machine is only a paint brush in the artist’s hands. Despite interesting technology and aggressive marketing hype, it will not guarantee a great result in a trusting patient. A concerning trend I have seen in the last few years with the introduction of some of this interesting technology is the mistaken tendency of the patient to choose or ask for the machine instead of spending time to find the right surgeon. Unfortunately, companies, the media and sometimes even doctors themselves contribute to this when there is competition for dollars. Like I say on my radio show (and you are doing so by reading this article), please do your homework and spend time educating yourself. Do not be impulsive, continue to learn and hopefully the truth will come to guide you to a great result.

Presently in the United States, liposuction is still the most common cosmetic surgery. It also has one of the highest revision rates approaching 25% in some studies. It is much more difficult than most patients and even many naïve surgeons realize to consistently get a beautiful result. There are many reasons for this as we will start to see. I feel it is extremely important to “get it right” the first time. Every aspect of this procedure from clear honest communication with the patient, to complete evaluation, to meticulous technique should be directed toward this end. If a patient is not a candidate, e.g. they are simply overweight, maybe out of shape but not disproportionate, then I may have no role in their improvement and honestly tell them they are not a candidate for liposuction.

Unfortunately, approximately 30% of my surgeries are revision liposuction where I am using techniques to improve a bad or less than optimum result by another physician or possibly non-physician. In my evaluation of this patient, I can always tell why a bad result has occurred. A bad result occurs for two reasons: either poor evaluation (including poor communication) or poor technique. The surgeon may have been too conservative, been too aggressive (too common), been uneven in his contouring, poorly blended areas, placed his incision points in strategically poor locations or thrown a patient out of balance and proper proportion. And once again, unfortunately no new technologically advanced machine can or ever will prevent any of these problems. Like a perfect haircut or a beautiful sculpture, it goes back to the skills and artistry of the person doing it.

With liposculpture surgery, as with any procedure, a great result begins with a complete honest evaluation as to who is a good candidate. Simply stated, liposuction is all about targeting areas of genetic disproportion and balancing a body. It has virtually nothing to do with being overweight, underweight or normal weight. It is about focusing on stubborn areas that can’t be taken care of with diet or exercise. This is one reason why it is so important to be fully evaluated from your neck to your ankles by someone with a good eye and ability to determine where you are out of balance if at all. It is a mistake to perform liposuction on someone who is simply overweight or out of shape but not disproportionate. Once again, unfortunately this does not uncommonly occur and the result will be a person thrown out of proportion. This is why we hear of cases of people who had lipo and the fat “went” to other area. The surgeon created disproportion. In addition, make sure that the person who is evaluating you for surgery is actually the surgeon and not somebody else. I have heard of patients who met their surgeon for liposuction in the operating room for the first time. Be wary of places that seem like factories and do not truly care about comprehensive individualized care.

With regard to my own approach to liposculpture, I strongly feel that local anesthesia is the gold standard and offers many advantages over general anesthesia for liposuction specifically. This is called “tumescent” liposuction which was developed by a dermatologic surgeon. I like to call this pure tumescent liposuction to differentiate it from other types where they maybe combining it with general anesthesia. Tumescent liposuction has essentially three major benefits. To begin with, studies show it is far safer, especially if compared to liposuction done with other procedures under general anesthesia. The second benefit is easier recovery. The tumescent fluid which is infiltrated into the fat helps hydrodissect (separate with water) and allows much more pure fat removal with decreased bleeding. This results in far less bruising and generally much faster recovery with less post operative discomfort. I only trust myself to do all the local anesthesia as there certainly is an art to infiltration so that the patient feels as little as possible. However, the greatest advantage of local anesthesia is that I have a patient that can always be positioned optimally, so that I can meticulously sculpt without ever jabbing the muscle or poking the skin. This allows me to stay only in the fat layer where I only belong. Jabbing the muscle (which could never be tolerated with a conscious patient) significantly increases bleeding, bruising and postoperative pain. On the other hand, jabbing, poking or tenting the skin with the cannula at the wrong angle is one of the main causes of indentations and irregularities (as we will soon discuss).

With regard to my technique of sculpting, it begins with a good eye for the contour, balance and proper proportions for the male and especially the female body. Each body has its own differences, nuances and limitations. Good surgical technique also encompasses excellent judgment for not only where to target but also how aggressive to be. There must always be respect for skin tone as well as knowing how to deal with looser flabby tissue (flab is the term I use which is loose skin and muscle. Many people confuse flab with fat.)

Where I have learned to place my incisions in each part of the body I approach is extremely important. The goal is not only to place few incisions in places that hide well, but to strategically place them to be able to completely and evenly approach each area without jabbing the muscle or skin. My incisions are small nicks in the skin between two-three millimeters in length. I feel that not suturing the sites allows faster recovery by drainage of fluid postoperatively.

With regard to how I sculpt, this is a little more difficult to convey in words. The fat is embedded in a fairly dense connective tissue framework so it certainly is not just sucking fat out. One must tunnel very precisely in the fat and this is why liposculpture is truly a more accurate name then liposuction. I always start deep in the fat with small round cannulas to debulk the deeper layers of fat. I almost always approach an area from two or more directions and crisscross my tunnels. As I move up in the fat layer, I progressively go to even smaller cannulas and finish in the superficial fat layer with a flat tipped small cannula I had designed for myself many years ago to make sure my surface is smooth. It is how I approach this superficial fat and how aggressive I choose to be with regard to rasping the dermis from underneath that controls how much skin tightening I choose to achieve. Liposculpting is a very tactile procedure and this is one of the main reasons why I do not prefer laser assisted liposuction or ultrasonic liposuction as I lose the “feelings” or vibrations which convey to me exactly where I am and how much I am bringing an area down. Remember, the goal is not to always be aggressive and just suck all the fat out. This is a very amateur approach and bad results will commonly occur. For a more detailed description of how I approach each particular area of the body, please consult my website www.expertliposuction.com in the section entitled “area by area.”

Now, with regard to alternative liposuction procedures, I will group them into internal and external modalities. With regard to the internal modalities, I will begin with mesotherapy (also known as lipozap or lipodissolve) as it will be the quickest to dismiss. One of the deceitful marketing tools is that mesotherapy many times is advertised as being better than liposuction. I find this not only inaccurate but insulting. Mesotherapy is the multiple injections of a nonstandardized solution of phosphatidylcholine into the fat. Now, I am not saying that it won’t ever dissolve fat because it might. But remember when I said that the fat is embedded in a dense connective tissue framework? Well, how do you control the dispersal of the fluid and trust you are going to dissolve everything evenly? Remember how particular I was in how I sculpted each area of the body? There is so much more involved to great liposculpting then just dissolving fat. And, not that this is the most important thing, but mesotherapy is not FDA approved, is not supported by any of the major cosmetic surgery societies and furthermore, no one that I know who specializes in body sculpting has chosen to incorporate it in their practice.

Laser assisted liposuction (eg. Smart lipo, cool lipo) and ultrasonic liposuction (eg. Vaser) are newer quite popular alternatives to more traditional forms of liposuction. The argument here goes that they melt fat and tighten skin, whereas traditional liposuction either does not tighten skin or makes your skin looser. Very alluring, but it’s not that simple or truly accurate. I sometimes call this liposeduction vs. liposuction. There are many surgeons that have embraced these newer machines. Personally, I do not trust simply melting fat and feel I can get as much tightening as I choose by how I deal with the area just under the skin. I prefer this because it gives me more of a feel. With regard to the laser sealing blood vessels, remember that with properly done tumescent anesthesia one gets very little bleeding due to the hydrostatic pressure and epinephrine vasoconstruction. One well done study in a major peer reviewed journal (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Sept. 2006) failed to demonstrate any clinical advantages of laser assisted lipoplasty.

However, I feel the bigger danger with many of the newer aggressively marketed machines is that they encourage the potential patient to search for the machine and forget that what is more important is the mind, hands, heart and eyes of the man (or woman) behind it. Since I do a lot of revision work to improve poorly done liposuction, I would have to say that in the past two years I have seen some of the worst disasters result from both laser assisted and ultrasonic liposuction. Once again, I don’t blame the machine but the judgment and skills of the person behind it. I am also aware that the media plays a large role in hyping up whatever is new.

Finally, with regard to many of the newer machines that are targeting either cellulite or tightening of the skin, I feel this is an interesting area as long as it is not too closely compared to well done liposculpture. There are some promising results with regard to this area. Velashape was the first FDA approved machine for cellulite and the temporary reduction of circumference (yes, temporary). There are other machines also used for cellulite. While this is a very intriguing area, I have not yet chosen to incorporate it in my practice as I am not yet sure it really works long term and is worth the cost of the procedures. There are also several skin tightening machines that are used on the body such as Titan, Thermage, which uses radiofrequency, and Affirm. Recently Thermage came out with a deep penetrating tip that penetrates over 4 mm and generates an inflammatory response in the superficial fat layer to generate tissue tightening and shrinkage. I am in the process of forming my opinion as I am starting to use this deep tissue tightening tip to further tighten skin on the body. But I have to admit that it is quite expensive and at least in my hands and eyes, the verdict is still out. But I will keep you posted.

In closing, I hope the insights and opinions I have shared help to guide you in the right direction.

Ask Dr. David Amron Questions & Get Answers

Click here to ask Dr. Amron Questions Live & Get Answers

Dr. Amron has his own message board on Make Me Heal where he answers liposuction questions live from patients.

About Dr. David Amron

Based in Beverly Hills, California, Dr. David Amron (www.expertliposuction.com) is known internationally as an expert in liposuction and revision liposuction. He has meticulously sculpted thousands of patients for over ten years and is well respected for achieving consistently outstanding results with his “pure tumescent liposuction” technique.

Learn more about Dr. David Amron

Visit Dr. David Amron’s Website: www.expertliposuction.com

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There is a new liposuction technique that has just been approved by the Food And Drug Administration that promises to melt fat in a less invasive manner, bring about results within as short as a week, and result in less downtime and less side effects than traditional liposuction. Sounds too good? This new laser-assisted liposuction technique for fat removal is called Laser Body Sculpting and is also being referred to as SmartLipo or “Lunch Time Liposuction” due to the quick 45-60 minute surgery time. Ideal for treating small areas of the face, chin, neck, arms, breasts (gynecomastia), and areas of loose and flabby skin, SmartLipo melts away fat using a high powered laser. A very small cannula (tube) that is approximately 1.0-2.0 millimeters in diameter contains a laser fiber that is inserted into the skin. The cannula is moved back and forth, delivering the laser’s energy to the fat cells, causing them to rupture and easily drain away. As the laser tip comes in contact with the fat cells, the tip literally melts the fat. The laser energy also interacts with the dermis and results in collagen shrinkage – meaning it creates a desirable tightening effect on the area. The SmartLipo laser causes the membranes of the adipose cells (the main storage for fat in the body) to break down, transforming them into an oily substance that is absorbed and eliminated in a natural manner. Because the fat is turned to liquid instead of being suctioned in solid form, using the SmartLipo laser means less blood and trauma, faster recovery, and quicker results with less side effects compared to more aggressive traditional liposuction techniques. Due to the cannula’s small size, Smartlipo can be performed under local anesthesia. After the treatment, the patient will need to wear a compression garment for several days to several weeks, depending on the body area being treated.

SmartLipo’s manufacturer Cynosure claims that results can be seen as soon as a week with continued improvement over several months. “There’s an immediate change right away,” said Coronado, California plastic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Schafer in a separate interview on 10news.com. Patient Alice Schultz says her hips and stomach seem tighter just hours after her surgery.

SmartLipo claims that this laser- assisted liposuction is safer for the patients because less bleeding and anesthetic drugs are used and because it doesn’t cause destruction of tissues as it could happen with a traditional liposuction. One treatment is usually recommended and results can be seen immediately with continued improvement over several months.

On the Make Me Heal Liposuction Message Board doctors and patients alike have discussed this new technique. Dr Todd K. Malan from Phoenix, Arizona, who was selected to be one of the first surgeons to use SmartLipo in the US, is very happy with the results achieved with his patients, and proudly promotes this device:

“Like traditional Liposuction maximum results can take 3-6 months. However unlike traditional Lipo or Vaser you do see a remarkable immediate effect. We are able to perform Smartlipo in office with a 1mm incision that doesn’t even need to be sutured and the after procedure pain is no worse than you would experience from a workout at the Gym. Best of all in nearly all cases no bruising or swelling so it os great for areas that aren’t hidden by clothing. I still perfom traditional Lipo and Vaser but Smartlipo is a better option for most patients.”

“It’s something that really is going to change liposuction,” added Schafer. Schafer is the first approved physician in the West Coast to use SmartLipo. “This is the first thing I am really excited about. It’s really going to make a significant change in the results,” said Schafer.

But not all doctors share the same enthusiasm. Plastic surgeon Dr. John LoMonaco of Houston Texas sounded caution, referring to a study by Dr. Prado and colleagues from Chile in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (118:1032, 2006), where SmartLipo has been in use since 2004.

“They used SmartLipo on one side, standard liposuction on the other side of 25 patients and saw less pain in the laser-treated side, but no differences in recovery, no decrease in swelling and bruising, and no difference in the quality of the result.” Dr. LoMonaco adds “The photos looked the same on both sides at 11 and 15 days, and also at 11 months. They did find that the procedure took longer, and importantly found high levels of free fatty acids in the tissue left over from the ruptured fat cells from the laser treated sides which they call a “major problem.” Dr. Lomanco also says that “Dr. Prado was critical of the “sumptuous marketing” by the company in his country and stated that “The use of any prototype machine in humans should follow the principle of research before commerce.”

It may be too early to judge whether SmartLipo is really as great as its claims say, but it is surely a promising innovation that gives hope for having plastic surgery with great results and minimal side effects. As more and more patients try this new technique, Make Me Heal will offer more of such testimonials.

There are only 15 clinics in the United States offering SmartLipo at this time, although the procedure was developed in Italy and has been performed in numerous clinics throughout Europe, South America, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

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10news.com reports the following story:

SAN DIEGO — There’s a new way to get rid of your unwanted fat, and some doctors said it works better than traditional liposuction.Instead of vacuuming fat, laser liposuction melts away fat cells. The procedure has just been approved and it has just arrived in San Diego.Doctors said a new fat-zapping technique would help you lose a size or two without the stitches or bumpy, saggy skin. “This is such a soft, gentle technique, it’s like playing a violin,” said Coronado plastic surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Schafer.The Food and Drug Administration just approved the less-invasive technique for liposuction called laser body sculpting, also known as Smart Lipo.”It’s something that really is going to change liposuction,” added Schafer.Schafer is the first doctor on the West Coast using this method to melt fat.”This is the first thing I am really excited about. It’s really going to make a significant change in the results,” said Schafer.Alice Schultz never considered liposuction because it could sometimes make the skin worse after the fat is removed.“There is potential for hardness that comes afterwards,” said Schultz.With Smart Lipo, Schultz’s fantasy of having a flat belly and firm hips is about to become a reality.”The laser actually heats up the collagen and causes the collagen to tighten and contract,” said Schafer.Schafer said only a tiny incision is needed to allow a small tube with a laser to glide under the skin.As the laser tip comes into contact with the fat cells, it literally melts the fat.Using lasers means less blood loss and trauma, faster recovery and quicker results.“There’s an immediate change right away,” said Schafer.In Schultz’s case, her hips and stomach seem tighter just hours after her surgery. Now, she’s anxious to see how she’ll look in her favorite jeans.”I am going to try on some tight jeans that I have at home and hopefully I won’t have that muffin top,” said Schultz.The new procedure is not for everybody. Doctors said the laser system is best suited for targeting small fat deposits in healthy people.Laser lipo patients experience complications fewer than 1 percent. By comparison, conventional liposuction patients have up to a 10 percent complication rate.

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