Newport Beach Plastic Surgery | Dr. Hendrick's Blog

After you have lost most of the weight you would like to lose, liposuction procedures can be done for fine-tuning. Most people have stubborn body areas that retain the extra fat despite best efforts with diet and exercise.

The most typical of such areas is the abdomen. As we age, it becomes more difficult to lose extra weight from the abdomen - either from the full area from ribs to pelvis, or from the lower abdomen, from navel to pelvis. If you have finished childbearing, you may well have extra abdominal weight and a liposuction procedure can be exactly right for you.

Aside from childbearing, many people tend to retain fat in the thighs, love handles, hips and/or buttocks. This whole lower body area can be successfully treated with liposuction to give you a more svelte outline.

For some people, the back is an area that retains excess fat, especially the upper back. That can make bra straps uncomfortable. A liposuction procedure can remove any extra bulk on the upper back that gives the body a top-heavy and ungraceful silhouette.

There are several ways that liposuction procedures can be done and one approach is SmartLipo, which is designed to treat smaller body areas. Those areas can be sculpted with SmartLipo's laser beam which melts the fat, making it easy to remove. In some cases, the emulsified fat can be reabsorbed by the body and excreted rather than being suctioned out.

If you have extra fat below the chin or around the throat, SmartLipo can remove it very precisely and give you a cleaner jawline. SmartLipo is also a good procedure for the upper arms, back of the neck, cheeks, knees, and mons pubis. Recovery is faster than from traditional liposuction procedures.

If you are in Orange County, California, and would like to learn more about the ways liposuction could help you achieve your desired body shape, please call or email our cosmetic surgery office for a private consultation with Dr. Hendricks.