Comparison Shopping Applies to More than Shoes - Combining Aesthetic Procedures

Sometimes liposuction alone will leave you with excess skin - so what can you do? One doctor suggests using Thermage with lipo to tighten up the loose skin.

While it is generally known that liposuction procedures work for removing fat, many patients aren't aware of the issue of skin laxity following fat removal. For the best result, the skin needs to be able to shrink and contour over the treated area. Patients who have a lot of skin laxity often require a facelift or tummy tuck to achieve the best result. Many don't require any extra procedures and the skin contours correctly. What about those who have just a little laxity? Additional surgery seems a bit extreme, yet if nothing else is done, the skin will be wrinkled and the patient won't have the result they're expecting.

In a recent interview with the Plastic Surgery Channel, Dr. Richard Baxter suggests using Thermage with liposuction to provide the necessary skin tightening and presented his opinion at Plastic Surgery 2009, the annual meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). In a small study where a patient had Thermage done on one side of his body and not the other, the patient showed 30% more skin shrinkage on the Thermage side. While a study consisting of one person isn't conclusive, it is what's referred to as a Proof of Concept study. This means that while the study is incomplete, it's a good indication that what's proposed can be done and should be investigated further.

Dr. Baxter says the next concern is determining for which patients this treatment is best. It's meant for patients who are at an in-between place. They have too much laxity to be ignored because the skin will not retract, but not enough to warrant further surgery.

Laser lipo procedures do offer some promise in skin tightening in conjunction with the fat removal. The heat of the laser stimulates the collagen, but it won't work for all patients. Dr. Baxter says he's seen patients who went to their doctor expecting a tummy tuck and were talked into just having the laser lipo. After surgery, they were left with unsatisfactory results which are then more difficult to correct. He suggests visiting with several doctors and shopping around for different opinions before making a final decision.

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