Smartlipo™ Vs. Traditional Liposuction

For those of us who want to lose weight in our trouble areas and can’t ever seem to do it with diet and exercise alone, liposuction is a surgical option that can help. Being the most popular type of cosmetic surgery available, there are many types of liposuction to choose from. One of the newer techniques is called SmartLipo™, which is different from traditional liposuction in a few important ways.

What Makes SmartLipo™ Different from Traditional Liposuction

During traditional liposuction, your cosmetic surgeon will make small incisions and insert a cannula (a long hollow tube) into the areas of your body where you would like to remove excess fat. He will then use the cannula to break up the fat cells in each area by using a firm back and forth motion. Finally, the broken up cells are suctioned out. You would be under general anesthesia when traditional liposuction is performed, so there is no pain or discomfort until you wake up and begin recovery.

SmartLipo™ is very similar to traditional liposuction, but the cannula used is narrower, allowing smaller incisions. It has a laser inside it which emits energy into the targeted fat cells breaks them down. Without their cell walls to separate them, the fat takes on a liquid consistency, being easily suctioned from the body.

Pros and Cons of Each Method

Traditional Liposuction
The technique and instruments of traditional liposuction will usually be recommended if the patient has large areas of fat to eliminate. In these cases, excess skin may need to be removed and muscles tightened. This makes sense because the instrumentation is larger and can cover more ground, and these patients will already have incisions larger than those necessary for SmartLipo™.

Another pro for traditional liposuction is that it has been performed for many years and has a long history of success. SmartLipo™ is newer and that makes some people a little wary of it.

Some cons to traditional lipo are:
· It is more invasive than SmartLipo™
· It leaves larger scars
· It requires a longer recovery period
· It is not ideal for very small areas of targeted fat removal such as beneath the chin

SmartLipo
Some of the advantages of using SmartLipo™ are:
· No general anesthesia is necessary, eliminating the risks associated with that
· The incisions are smaller
· The cannula is smaller
· There is little or no bleeding, as the laser seals blood vessels, preventing it
· The procedure is more gentle because the fat cells are liquefied so easily by the laser
· Recovery is easier

These factors make it a less invasive procedure and one better-suited for smaller, more delicate areas of the body.

In addition to these advantages, the laser energy from the laser will also heat up the layers of surrounding skin, which can produce a firming, tightening effect that traditional liposuction cannot.

Cons to using SmartLipo™ are:
· It isn’t designed for removing really large areas of fat
· The laser needs to be calibrated correctly to ensure the safety of the procedure. This should not be a concern if you select a reputable surgeon who performs SmartLipo™ on a regular basis.