Body Contouring Procedures Can Change Your Life

Most individuals are self-conscious about their bodies. Body contouring plastic surgery procedures can get rid of your fears and strengthen your confidence.

Liposuction: You may be a candidate for liposuction if you have excess subcutaneous fat, which is resistant to diet and exercise. Liposuction may also be desirable if you wish to change the contours of your body. Commonly involved areas are the anterior part of the neck (under the chin), upper arms and armpits, male chest/breasts, trunk, abdomen, waist, hips, thighs, inner knees, calves, and ankles. Most patients are near normal weight and desire permanent contour changes.

Abdominoplasty: You may be a candidate for a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) if you have loose or sagging abdominal wall skin that is frequently associated with abnormal relaxation of the anterior abdominal wall muscles (often secondary to multiple pregnancies or prior surgery). You may also desire a tummy tuck if you are unable to tighten your abdominal wall skin with exercise. An Abdominoplasty is intended to give the patient a smoother, flatter abdomen.

Body contour surgery following massive weight loss: Patients who have managed to lose a significant amount of weight can become frustrated by the appearance of excess redundant skin. Significant weight loss is becoming much more common due to gastric bypass (stomach stapling) operations. Just as some women have excess abdominal skin after one or more pregnancies, many patients who undergo gastric bypass operations have excess skin in the areas of weight loss. This can occur in any area that was affected, including the neck, breasts, arms, back, abdominal wall, hips, and legs.

There are several cosmetic surgery procedures that are helpful in treating this condition. A neck or a face lift can reduce excess folds of skin around the face or neck; a breast lift can be extended to the sides and back to help eliminate excess skin in those areas; a tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) is frequently required, sometimes with extension to the back.

Techniques originally devised to rejuvenate the upper arms can be used to eliminate the excess skin that can occur following significant weight loss. Likewise, thigh lifts can be used to improve the appearance of the legs.

Body contour restoration for HIV-related lipodystrophy: Patients with long-standing HIV positivity often develop areas of fat accumulation and/or fat atrophy. It is not clear if this is due to the disease alone or to one class of medication used to treat HIV. Regardless of the cause, the result can be very troublesome to the patient. Most commonly affected areas are the cheeks which lose their fullness, and the upper back which develops a soft-tissue mass. As the mass increases in size, it becomes increasingly uncomfortable, causing postural disturbances and neck pain. The mass can extend to the posterior neck or even the scalp. Often there is fullness in the anterior neck as well. Other areas affected are the chest with breast development (gynecomastia); the abdomen with increasing internal fat deposition (isolated truncal obesity), and the arms and legs with atrophy or wasting.

Many of the affected areas benefit from surgical treatment. There are soft-tissue fillers which can be used to treat the soft-tissue atrophy of the face (Newfill, Radiance). The excess soft tissue of the back and neck can be treated with ultrasonic liposuction and/or direct excision. Gynecomastia is also readily treated in this fashion.