If you’ve ever thought about or have encountered articles about plastic surgery, then you probably have heard about liposuction. Liposuction is still one of the most popular plastic surgery procedures in the world due to its effectiveness and fast results. Even though there are many non-invasive methods for fat removal in recent years, innovations in plastic surgery in the last decade allowed for a less painful, less time consuming, and less invasive procedure. Liposuction is often combined with tummy tuck surgery for best results.
In this article, we’ve gathered and summarized all the important information you need for liposuction in Singapore – from the consultation to what exactly you can expect from the procedure.
Table of Contents
What is liposuction?
We all have some unwanted fat that doesn’t seem to go away with a basic diet or exercise. Liposuction is a cosmetic surgery procedure to help exactly with this type of fat. The procedure is usually done on the tights, belly, or buttocks. You can do it in other areas of the body as well.
Types of liposuction
There are several different types of liposuction you can get in Singapore.
Power-assisted Liposuction (PAL)
This is probably the most used type of liposuction. The procedure can be separated into the following steps: Separation of the fat, suction of the fat, and a procedure to distribute the remaining fat evenly.
VASER Liposuction
Vaser liposuction is a method using vibration to disrupt the bond between fat cells. VASER liposuction is considered to be a safer and more controlled approach to the traditional one. Not only that but it’s also a very precise method too. VASER liposuction will disrupt the bond between the fat tissue and the muscles underneath without hurting other tissues. With Vaser liposuction machine, specialists in Singapore can perform chin liposuction and other areas including chest, neck, waistline, and hips.
Laser-assisted liposuction
With the laser liposuction, a laser will transform your fat into liquid. This method is preferred in smaller areas of the body such as the chin and face because of the small device used to suction the fat.
What’s the difference between body contouring and liposuction?
Those two are different types of procedures to remove fat. While liposuction is an invasive procedure, body-contouring is minimally invasive liposuction. Body contouring is a non-invasive method that allows for removing small amounts of stubborn fat. It’s suitable for people who don’t want to undergo surgery or don’t have large amounts of fat to remove.
What happens during a consultation?
Before deciding to get liposuction done, you should have a consultation with a plastic surgeon who will explain everything in detail. During your consultation, you should explain what your goals and expectations about the liposuction are. Right there and then, the surgeon will tell you if your goals are achievable.
Your plastic surgeon will also conduct a small medical examination to assess your skin’s elasticity and overall condition. The surgeon needs to determine such factors because liposuction won’t help if you have loose skin, for example. Your surgeon will also suggest the best liposuction appropriate for your specific body type and goals. After that you and your surgeon will talk about the details such as anaesthesia, recovery time, or even how much fat can liposuction remove at one time – your surgeon is there to answer them all.
Can anyone get liposuction?
Generally speaking, anyone in good health and who wants liposuction done can get it. But that being said, liposuction is not a method for weight loss. That’s why it’s advisable that patients are next to their ideal weight but can’t seem to get rid of some stubborn fat. The doctor and surgeon you speak with should advise you on whether or not liposuction is best for you or if you may benefit from body contouring procedures a lot more.
According to surgeons, the areas treated most effectively are the tummy and outer thighs but the areas that can show remarkable results are the waist and tailbone area. That’s because surgeons try to show the natural curves of the body. You can even get breast liposuction if you want to decrease your breast size. That being said, areas of the body with thinner skin such as the upper arms or just area with a high concentration of nerves might not be the best for liposuction.
Another thing you have to keep in mind is that doctors won’t recommend you do any sort of surgery if you have heart disease or other serious health problems, make sure to give all your health history to the doctor during the consultation before surgery.
How to prepare for liposuction?
Even though liposuction is a routine surgery and you won’t even need to stay at the hospital after, you still have to prepare for it. Preparation is important because it will allow for a quicker recovery. One important thing you have to do is stop smoking for at least a month before the surgery. Alcohol is also a no go for at least a week.
You also have to limit blood-thinning medications such as aspirin or even foods that can cause blood-thinning such as red wine or garlic. If you take any supplements such as vitamin E, you should stop them for the same reason.
What happens during liposuction?
Liposuction is a routine procedure and you don’t have to worry about it too much. It’s an outpatient procedure and is performed under general anaesthesia. It can also be performed under local anaesthesia as well if you get liposuction on smaller areas. As a patient, you also have the right to prefer general anaesthesia if you don’t feel comfortable being awake during the surgery.
Before the surgery takes place, the area to be treated will be sterilized and a medication used to reduce potential bleeding and loosen the fat is injected too. This allows surgeons to perform the liposuction surgery with less trauma to the body as well as faster recovery.
After that, your surgeons will make incisions on the skin which will minimize the chance of any irregularities on the skin and soft tissues.
To perform liposuction, the surgeons will insert a thin tube into the incisions and remove the fat via sucking it out. After that, the incisions are closed and patients are put into a special compression garment to ensure the swelling will go down fast.
Risks of liposuction
Like other types of surgeries with anaesthesia, liposuction does carry some anaesthesia-related risks. Those risks are very small and liposuction procedures are considered safe in general. There are some other medical risks as well – those include bleeding, infection, or fluid accumulation. If you have other concerns about the medical risks, as your doctor. They will give you an overview of everything you’d want to know.
Patients often worry about the aesthetic results of their procedure more about medical risks. Unfortunately, not all people are happy with their results. Some things that may go wrong are contour irregularities. Sometimes dimples or unevenness can occur too. Even if your surgeon has examined to determine your skin elasticity, you have to know that it’s still up to your body and skin to go back to normal after liposuction.
How about recovery time?
The recovery period depends on several factors such as the type of anaesthesia, whether you had liposuction on more than one area and the amount of fat removed. Usually, people who get liposuction in small areas can go to their daily activities in up to 3 days.
A lot of surgeons say that recovery from liposuction is similar to very bad workout soreness. Naturally, if you have done liposuction on bigger areas, then you’d recover slightly slower and painful. Then patients usually take some pain relief medication for a couple of days.
Bruising is another side effect that you might feel. It’s uncommon but it’s still possible. Swelling and mild bruising are expected side effects but they will be resolved by wearing the special compression garments. The swelling will set in a couple of months.
You can go back to exercise in a week or so but you have to avoid vigorous workouts and intensive cardio. Your doctor will give you advice on when you can return to the gym worry free!
More Benefits of Liposuction
While getting liposuction done, your surgeon can perform other procedures as well. A lot of patients want a procedure called fat grafting alongside liposuction. Fat grafting is a procedure that can use the fat removed during liposuction and injecting somewhere else on the body if the patient wants. A lot of people nowadays go for injecting more fat into their buttocks or face, a procedure known as fat transfer which is a commonly used technique for breast augmentation.
Another benefit of liposuction is that it can be all done in one session. While non-invasive methods are good too, they require more than 1 session over a long period (usually a couple of months) to get the desired effect.
An unexpected benefit of liposuction might be the potential positive effects on diabetes. The connection between liposuction and diabetes has been researched over the years – and we can say that there are promising results that liposuction can improve insulin resistance.
Liposuction is also one of the main methods of treating “man boobs” or gynecomastia, as it is known in the medical circles.
Liposuction Cost in Singapore
Like a lot of surgeries, the liposuction price in Singapore can vary on some different factors including the number of treated areas or amount of removed fat, or just type of liposuction you get. For example, the back liposuction cost is likely to be smaller than that of bigger areas. As a patient, you need to know that you also pay for your surgeon’s fee as well. Other fees that might be included in your final fee is the operating room, anaesthesia fee, or any tests you need to get before the surgery (lab tests).
In general, liposuction in Singapore can go anywhere from 3000$ to even 25,000$. That’s because, in a lot of cases, the surgeons perform liposuction on at least 5 body parts (and liposuction goes from 1,500 to 3000$ per body part).