subject: Why Do So Many People Get Liposuction? [print this page] Liposuction (also known as lipoplasty and suction lipectomy) is one of the biggest cosmetic surgeries in America. Every year, hundreds of thousands of lipectomies are performed all across the nation. This surgery routinely ranks as the number one most popular cosmetic surgery among men, and it is one of the very most popular surgeries among women as well.
So, why is this surgery so popular in our country? There are a number of reasons, but perhaps one of the biggest is simply that a lot of Americans are fat. This sounds insensitive, but it's true, and statistics back it up. Overweight and obesity rates are at extremely high levels right now.
When you combine the modern sedentary lifestyle with the modern propensity for high-fat, low-nutrition meals, it's no wonder that a lot of people are busily fighting the battle of the bulge these days. And even relatively healthy people in today's society still tend to have at least some areas where they store extra fat.
Liposuction is a surgery whose goal is to take care of some of this extra fat. By removing extra fat, this surgery helps people to look trimmer, slimmer and (hopefully) sexier.
The surgery is usually performed under local anesthesia, although general anesthetic can also be used. It can be accomplished in just a few hours, and it does not usually require an overnight stay at a hospital or surgical center.
During the procedure, the doctor makes incisions over the area which is going to be operated on. Once these incisions are made, he or she inserts a special surgical instrument called a cannula through the incision and into the fatty tissue. This cannula is essentially a small, hollow metal tube hooked up to a vacuum device. As the doctor passes the cannula back and forth through the fat, he or she is able to break up and then vacuum out the excess fat.
Typically, only one or a few areas can be treated during any given liposuction, so the surgery is not well-suited to total body weight loss. The amount of fat that can be removed during any given surgery also has limits. Generally, it cannot safely remove more than around ten pounds at a time, but there are sometimes exceptions.
For information on whether the surgery could help you with your desires and goals, please speak to a cosmetic surgeon in your area. Your surgeon should be able to help answer any questions you might have.
