Liposuction is a surgical procedure that precisely removes fat to give you a more desired shape. Every photo here is a patient of mine, same view before and after.
32 · 5'10" · 180 lb · 3 months after
50 · 5'7" · 179 lb · Lipo 360 and buttocks fat grafting · 6 months after
59 · 5'10" · 205 lb · chest and torso also · 4 months after
42 · 5'6" · 185 lb · thighs, knees, upper legs · 5 months after
44 · 5'6" · 180 → 151 lb · lipedema; GLP-1 after · 6 months after
40 · 5'4" · 167 lb · 6 months after
32 · 6'0" · 250 → 238 lb · gland removal, Renuvion · 3 months after
35 · 5'5" · 129 lb · also rhinoplasty · 1 year after
Age · height · weight before → after · what else was done · when the after photo was taken. No stock photography, no models. Results vary with skin, frame and weight.
Front. The fat above and below the navel is gone; the natural line down the middle shows.
Some women treat the tummy alone; most treat the tummy and waist together. The unwanted fat comes off as one even layer, and as it does the natural lines are defined: the midline above the navel and the borders of the abdominal muscle. That preserves her feminine shape and gives it a more vertical line, with less width. When there are bra rolls or fat under the arms, the plan is Lipo 360, treating the body more extensively. Lipo 360, six patients →
32 · 5'10" · 180 lb · Tummy and waist · General anesthesia · 3 months after (final shape at six)
Investment: $12,130
Back. Bra rolls, the roll above the waistband and the fullness over the hips are gone; the waist reads from behind.
Bra rolls, the roll above the waistband and the fullness over the hips were treated as one continuous plane, so the back reads as one smooth surface and the waist narrows from behind. For a woman with a narrow pelvis, adding the fat removed from the back and waist to the buttocks shapes the hips at the same time, and gives her a shape dieting alone could never have reached. The back is not treated on its own; it is done with the front and sides in one session. How the back is shaped in Lipo 360 →
50 · 5'7" · 179 lb · Lipo 360 and buttocks fat grafting (20 years after a tummy tuck) · 6 months after
Investment: $18,000–23,000 for Lipo 360 with fat transfer to the buttocks, plus her breast procedure
Back. The love handles and the roll above the belt are gone; the line from the shoulders to the waist returns.
The fat over the flanks and lower back was taken down to a thin, even layer over the muscle, with the chest and abdomen treated in the same session so the torso reads as one shape. For a man the taper is made from the back. Fat taken off the top of the muscle so the definition shows is High Definition liposuction.
59 · 5'10" · 205 lb · High Definition liposuction with etching · Fat grafting to the buttocks · Renuvion skin tightening · 4 months after
Investment: $23,000–28,000
Option: awake love handle liposuction · $8,000–10,000. Love handles alone, under local anesthesia, for a man who wants the waist and not the whole torso.
Upper arms. 40 years, 5'4", 167 lb. Water-assisted liposuction, awake. 6 months after.
A smooth taper from elbow to shoulder depends on three things: good muscle definition, a limited amount of fat, and skin that still has its elasticity. When all three are there, liposuction removes the fat in an awake procedure, about an hour in the operating room, and the arm follows.
With more fat, stretched skin or loss of muscle, the imbalance gets worse, and liposuction alone can leave the arm looser. Then an arm lift, with Renuvion to tighten from underneath or with real skin excision, restores the shape better than liposuction can.
Investment: $6,000–10,000
Arm liposuction and arm lift: who needs which →Front. Chest, treated awake.
Yes, for one or two areas that can be made reliably numb, so the surgery is comfortable: chest, tummy, love handles, arms, neck, inner thighs. Numbed with local anesthesia, water-assisted liposuction, out in an hour or two. Not for a Lipo 360; the whole torso is done asleep.
32 · 6'0" · 250 → 238 lb · Chest · Gland removal and water-assisted liposuction, awake under local, with Renuvion · 3 months after
Investment: $8,000–13,000
Each has its own page with the tile patient shown in two views, the options for that area, recovery and cost: thighs, legs, calves and ankles, chest, men, neck and chin.
Jeffrey A. Ditesheim, MD, FACSDitesheim Cosmetic Surgery, Charlotte
Liposuction, more than any other plastic surgery procedure, requires artistic vision. Maybe there is a lower tummy roll or protruding love handles. It might be the skeletal anatomy causing flat buttocks or no waist. Are the shoulders broad, or do the arms sit away from the body?
I want to understand what anatomy is causing the frustration, and how the shape needs to be edited or augmented to create the feminine or masculine shape you desire, all while prioritizing safety and recovery. This is what I do for each patient at the consultation.
That is the range for liposuction alone, from one area awake under local anesthesia to the whole torso. Lipo 360 combined with fat transfer, a tummy tuck or breast augmentation runs higher. Every quote includes the surgeon, anesthesia, the operating room, the garment and all visits, and you get it in writing at the consultation. Financing is available.
See what nine patients had done, and what it cost →Every operation carries risk. The ones I see and manage: contour irregularity, which is why I treat an area as one plane rather than in patches; a seroma, fluid under the skin, drained in the office; numbness that resolves over months; and small asymmetries that occasionally need a touch-up. The rare serious ones, infection, blood clot, fat embolism, are why this is done in an accredited surgical center with a board-certified anesthesia provider, why I keep to the five-liter limit, and why you walk the same day.
It works best when your weight is stable, the fat you want gone is fat you can pinch, and your skin still has enough elasticity to shrink to the new shape. Age matters less than skin. It isn't the right operation when the fat is inside the abdomen (a firm, round belly that doesn't pinch; only weight loss reaches that), when the problem is loose skin after pregnancy or major weight loss (that is a tummy tuck or a lift, sometimes with liposuction added), when you are still losing weight (wait three months at a stable weight, especially on GLP-1 medication), or when the goal is the scale rather than the shape.
The limit is five liters of aspirate, the fat and fluid together, in one surgical procedure. That usually works out to nine or ten pounds of fat. It exists for your safety, and I don't cross it. Five liters is enough for a complete Lipo 360 in most patients, or two to three separate areas; more than that is staged into two sessions a few months apart.
Liposuction removes fat and needs skin that will shrink to the new shape. A tummy tuck removes loose skin and repairs muscles that separated in pregnancy. If your belly pinches and the skin snaps back, liposuction; if the skin hangs when you bend, or you can feel a gap between the muscles, a tummy tuck, often with liposuction added. Having had children doesn't by itself mean a tummy tuck; two of the six women on the Lipo 360 page had Lipo 360 after pregnancy instead.
Yes, for one or two areas: the tummy, love handles, arms, neck or inner thighs. The area is numbed with local anesthesia, the fat is removed with water-assisted liposuction, and you walk out an hour or two later, usually back at a desk within a couple of days. It suits a few pounds of fat in one or two areas. It is not the way to do a Lipo 360, and if you need more than two areas you are better served asleep, in one session.
They are tools that change how the fat is loosened before it's removed. VASER uses ultrasound, water-assisted (Aquashape) uses a water jet, power-assisted uses a vibrating cannula. I use all three depending on the area; I don't use laser. None of them decides what your result looks like. That comes from judgment about how much fat to leave, where to leave it, and where the skin will follow. Choose your surgeon on results, and let the surgeon choose the tool.
The fat cells removed don't come back. If you gain weight, the fat that's left gets bigger, evenly, so you keep the shape but it softens. Gain a lot and fat can show up in areas that weren't treated. Liposuction works best for people whose weight is stable, which is why I ask for three months at the same weight before surgery.
Regular liposuction treats one area. Lipo 360 treats the whole torso in one session, front, sides and back, as a continuous plane, which is what creates a waist rather than a flat spot. Lipo 360: six patients, who it's for, cost
For the right patient, at a stable weight, with skin that follows, it is one of the most reliable operations in plastic surgery: the fat is gone and the shape holds for years. For the wrong patient it is money spent on a result that disappoints, which is what the consultation is for.
I will sit with you, unhurried. I want to know your frustrations about your body. I will ask about your needs for recovery and who will care for you. You will share your medical history. I will examine you with my nurse present. Then together we will discuss options, answer all questions and make the information understandable, not scary. Then I will propose a surgical plan to give you the best results, prioritizing safety and respecting your parameters for recovery and investment.
Bring photos of the shape you want. I'll tell you what liposuction can and can't do for your body, what I'd recommend, and what it will cost, in writing. The consultation is a surgical assessment, not a sales appointment; if liposuction isn't the right operation, that is where I say so.
