Liposuction near Beverly Hills, CA

Even though you watch what you eat and exercise, you may still be bothered by pockets of fat that keep you from being confident in how you look. Dr. Hakimi offers liposuction, one of the most advanced techniques to effectively eliminate fat from the body. This body contouring treatment reduces fat from the abdomen, hips, thighs, and buttocks to produce a slimmer appearance. Liposuction can be combined to treat several body parts. When we see you for your consultation, Beverly Hills, CA plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Hakimi will assess areas of concern so you can attain your cosmetic goals. We want you to look and feel your absolute best.

Lipo is a great treatment for men and women who are at a healthy weight but have areas of fat that they can't seem to lose with diet and exercise alone. Those contemplating liposuction should have healthy skin because it is not a treatment for stretched-out skin. It is also important to understand that liposuction is not an answer for losing weight, and you should be at or very close to your ideal weight before having liposuction. 

There is a limit to how much fat we can suction safely. Therefore the more patients lose prior to this procedure the better their outcome as the plastic surgeon is able to do more before reaching the limits. As such, liposuction is not a weight loss method. To the contrary it is for fine tuning and removing stubborn fat after diet and exercise have failed. As in any body contouring procedures, Dr. Hakimi will make sure that patient’s weight has been stable and there is plan for maintenance around the same weight. Any weight gain or loss could alter and lessen the aesthetic outcome. If you are in Newport Beach, Beverly Hills, or Los Angeles, CA, contact plastic surgeon Dr. Hakimi to schedule a consultation.

Liposuction is performed as an outpatient procedure using either oral or general anesthesia. A punch-hole incision is made through the skin so a cannula can be placed. A cannula is a tool that makes it easier to vacuum fat out. Once the fatty deposits have been suctioned out, Dr. Hakimi will close the incision. Depending on the number of areas treated, your procedure could last several hours. You may have some achiness for a few days after the surgery. It's typical to see swelling and bruising for 1 – 2 weeks, and you can have stitches removed after 7 – 10 days. To build up your strength, try walking and light workouts as advised by Dr. Hakimi. You may notice some changes soon after your surgery, but it takes 6 – 3 months to see your full results.

How much does liposuction cost?
The cost of your liposuction will vary, depending on the technique selected and the number of areas being treated. During your consultation, Dr. Hakimi will create your unique liposuction surgical plan based on your needs and goals. He will also consider your budget. When your plan is developed, the estimated costs will be discussed. To make your cosmetic surgery affordable, we take many payment options and can help you find low-interest medical financing.

What about cellulite and loose skin?
Surgical liposuction only addresses excess fat. If you have loose skin, Dr. Hakimi may recommend combining liposuction with a surgical body lift. Lipo is often done along with skin tightening surgery, such as a tummy tuck or arm lift, to give you your best results. To correct cellulite, there are many nonsurgical and minimally invasive treatments. In your consultation, talk to Dr. Hakimi about your concerns, like cellulite and loose skin, so a comprehensive treatment plan can be created.

What happens when you gain weight after liposuction?
This is a common question our patients regularly ask. Every individual has a certain number of fat cells. Fat cells stop multiplying when we reach adulthood. Instead of making new cells, the fat cells grow in size. For example, someone might gain 20 pounds between the ages of 20 and 40. The number of fat cells didn't multiply by that percentage of weight gain, but the cells' size increased instead. When a patient gets liposuction, they are removing the fat cells from an area. If the patient gains weight afterward, the body won't have the same number of fat cells in that area to store the energy. Therefore, the fat goes to other places like your back, your hips, and your arms. It also depends on the genetics of the patient, which is very unpredictable.

Why is a BBL the most dangerous plastic surgery procedure performed?
The fat we place in the buttocks could potentially get into the deeper layer into the vessels. This fat could go to your heart or lungs and become fatal. As plastic surgeons, we know how to mitigate these risks by being very careful during the surgery. We will put the fat into the subcutaneous tissue under the skin and will avoid it going into the muscle. The second most dangerous plastic surgery procedure performed is the tummy tuck. A tummy tuck can cause DVT and blood clot formation risks. As plastic surgeons, we know how to mitigate these risks and we will pick the right patient to ensure safety. We won't operate on patients that are over a certain BMI and we encourage our patients to take all precautions for a successful surgery and recovery.

Does it matter if you've had cool sculpting, sculpsure, any non-surgical modalities or sculptra injection to your buttocks prior to liposuction or BBL?
It does. It makes for more scarring, more inflammation. In case of awake liposuction, it means that we have to use more numbing medication. In terms of your liposuction result, it makes it more difficult for your surgeon to guess or estimate how much fat you can get out. Because even though you can pinch the area and it might feel soft when you go in, it's really not all fat. There is a decent amount of scarring and inflammation that might look like fat from outside, so it lowers the yield of fat for injection into any other areas. And as far as sculpture goes, it causes a huge amount of scarring and inflammation, making for unpredictable take of fat. Meaning, if 40%, 30% of the fat would have gone away after three months and you would have taken about 60, 70% of the fat, usually the yield is lower when you have sculpture because there is more scarring, probably there is less optimal environment for the fat to live.

Nonetheless, we still do these procedures, people are happy and the result is there. It's a meaningful improvement, but sculpture, cool sculpting are not a free ride. They come with a price in the future.

What happens if I lose weight after chin lipo?
If you lose weight after a liposuction of your neck, usually you're safe with five or 10 pounds here or there. But if you lose a hundred pound 200 pounds and you're the type of person that genetically wears most of their weight in their neck, then you might have some skin laxity. In my personal opinion, it's more of a problem after facelift than after liposuction because after we do liposuction, especially with radio frequency skin, tiny, there is not much fat left. We leave a very tiny amount of fat just to keep the skin looking healthy and natural and youthful. So if you lose a lot of weight, it's not gonna change much of a dynamic in your neck. But if we do a facelift and you lose weight, then the infrastructure changes more than just an isolated neck lip bulb.

How much fat can you take out with liposuction?
That five liter is the limit of how much fat you can take out in each surgery. Regardless of if your liposuction is done under local or general anesthesia.

If you lose weight after a liposuction of your neck, usually you're safe with five or 10 pounds here or there. But if you lose a hundred pound 200 pounds and you're the type of person that genetically wears most of their weight in their neck, then you might have some skin laxity. In my personal opinion, it's more of a problem after facelift than after liposuction because after we do liposuction, especially with radio frequency skin, tiny, there is not much fat left. We leave a very tiny amount of fat just to keep the skin looking healthy and natural and youthful. So if you lose a lot of weight, it's not gonna change much of a dynamic in your neck. But if we do a facelift and you lose weight, then the infrastructure changes more than just an isolated neck lip bulb.

If you have stubborn fat you haven't been able to get rid of with diet and exercise, fat removal with liposuction at Dr. Hakimi's office offers you the chance to do just that. Without the help of liposuction, it can sometimes be frustrating to create the slimming results you desire. We can recommend various choices for liposuction treatment, depending on your personal struggles. Get in touch with our practice in Beverly Hills, CA, and make your one-on-one consultation with board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Hakimi.