Almost everyone who comes in for a liposuction consultation has one thought on their mind. “Remove as much fat as possible!” That’s totally understandable. After all, this fat has been probably been with us for a long time and has been resistant to our efforts to remove it by diet and exercise. Now that we’ve finally made the decision to remove it by a procedure, we want it gone!
The truth of the matter is, though, that the skill of doing liposuction well is to know when to say when and to not remove too much fat. Removing too much fat can leave deformities that look unnatural. This is especially true on the thighs. Over-aggressive liposuction of the outer thighs and inner thighs can leave divots. The outer thighs can be especially tricky since the surgeon can be fooled into thinking there is more fat than there actually is, if the thigh is not positioned correctly during surgery.
The goal of liposuction is to remove excess pockets or humps of fat. The end result is to leave a natural, smooth contour between the areas that are suctioned and those that are not. This almost always means leaving some fat behind. If we didn’t, the transition between the treated area and the surrounding areas would look awkward. So, while we all may feel that we want as much fat as possible removed, what we really desire is to remove all the fat necessary to give us the best result possible.
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Dr. Lawrence Osman is a board certified dermatologist and liposuction surgeon in Los Angeles specializing in minimally invasive techniques such as liposuction using local anesthesia only.