Tumescent liposuction is a surgical body-contouring procedure that removes stubborn areas of fat from the stomach, thighs, and upper arms. It can also be used around the chin, neck, breasts, or chest. The procedure is suitable for healthy people who are near their ideal weight and want to refine the shape of their body.

Tumescent Liposuction vs. Traditional Liposuction

Tumescent liposuction was developed in the 1980s as an alternative to traditional liposuction. Both procedures remove unwanted fat from the body, but tumescent liposuction provides several advantages. This surgery:

  • can be done as an outpatient procedure using local anesthesia
  • requires very small incisions, which heal without sutures
  • reduces the incidence of scarring and skin irregularities
  • uses microcannulas to facilitate precise fat removal
  • minimizes bleeding, swelling, and bruising
  • has few side effects and fast recovery times

Traditional liposuction, on the other hand,

  • must be performed under general anesthesia
  • requires an overnight stay in the hospital
  • uses relatively large cannulas and creates larger incisions
  • has greater potential to leave scars
  • requires incisions to be closed and sutured after surgery
  • involves slower recovery times

Are You a Good Candidate for Tumescent Liposuction?

Ideal candidates for tumescent liposuction tend to be healthy adults who are fairly close to their target weight. Although tumescent liposuction removes fat from the body, it is not a weight-loss procedure.

Typically, you may be a good candidate for tumescent liposuction if:

  • you want to eliminate small, stubborn pockets of fat
  • you have good muscle tone and skin elasticity
  • you don’t have any serious underlying medical conditions
  • you don’t smoke

Before you elect to have tumescent liposuction, it’s important to discuss your aesthetic goals, health status, and medical history with your doctor to determine if this procedure is the best treatment for you.

What to Expect Before, During, and After the Procedure

Preparing for Surgery

When you first meet with a surgeon to discuss your procedure, your doctor will assess your overall physical condition and examine your skin and your target treatment areas. You will need to disclose your medical history and any medications or supplements you are currently taking.

Before surgery, your surgeon may instruct you to:

  • stop smoking
  • stop shaving your treatment areas to prevent ingrown hairs
  • avoid eating or drinking anything the night before and the morning of your surgery
  • wear easy-to-remove, comfortable, loose-fitting clothing to the clinic

During Tumescent Liposuction

When your liposuction procedure begins, your practitioner will inject a solution containing lidocaine, epinephrine, and saline into the targeted fatty deposits. The lidocaine acts as a local anesthetic, while the epinephrine limits blood loss and prevents bruising. Saline causes the fat tissue to swell up and become firm, which allows your surgeon to contour your body precisely.

Next, your doctor will make a 2 mm incision in your skin and insert a microcannula into the target treatment area. This tube is connected to a device that will suction out the desired amount of fat from your body. The procedure usually takes three or four hours to complete.

After Tumescent Liposuction

After your surgery, it will take up to 24 hours for the local anesthetic to wear off, at which point you can take acetaminophen to mitigate any pain. Your doctor will probably encourage you to get up immediately after the procedure is complete and start walking, which will get blood moving through your muscles and enhance healing. Tumescent liposuction has very little downtime, so you should be able to return to work in a few days and start exercising three to seven days after surgery.

Your incisions should start healing in a few days and leave small or nearly invisible scars. Drainage from the incisions should stop after two or three days. You’ll also need to wear a compression girdle for about a week and sometimes longer, which will help to reduce swelling and encourage your body to adopt a newly sculpted shape.

Although you’ll start seeing the effects of tumescent liposuction in about two weeks, it can take three to six months for full results to be visible. The fat will be gone permanently if you can maintain your current weight.

The Importance of a Personalized Consultation

If you’re considering tumescent liposuction, it’s important to work with an experienced and highly skilled doctor who can tailor the surgery to meet your aesthetic goals. A good doctor will do everything possible to ensure that you achieve the very best results from your procedure.

Schedule a Consultation with Our Surgeons

Tumescent liposuction is a popular outpatient procedure that can give your body a more sculpted appearance when performed by a qualified surgeon. Our doctors are dedicated to delivering the best possible care so that you can achieve your desired silhouette. To discover how tumescent liposuction can enhance your confidence and your quality of life, schedule a consultation with our expert surgeons in Dallas, TX.