Should sagging skin after childbirth or dieting be treated with liposuction or a lift?
Pretty Body and Line Clinic
At Pretty Body and Line Clinic, we recommend a lift when removing fat alone will not resolve the skin that remains. In the consultation we check the thickness of the fat layer and also pinch the skin ourselves to assess how far it has stretched, then judge whether suction alone will do or excision is needed.
How are the two operations different?
Liposuction reduces the thickness of the fat layer, while a body lift excises sagging skin and tissue and then pulls the remaining skin taut and secures it. If the skin is already stretched, skin is left over in proportion to the volume reduced by liposuction.
If skin elasticity is retained, the skin shrinks back to some degree over time, but when it has been stretched for a long time, when weight changes have been large, or after childbirth, that recovery is hard to expect.
Which areas are considered?
At Pretty Body and Line Clinic, we look at 4 areas: the arms, thighs, abdomen, and the back with the flanks. It is not an operation done only after major weight loss. Skin left over after major weight loss is the typical case, but there are also many cases where elasticity has declined after childbirth or with aging.
Where will the incision line be?
A lift requires incisions, so scarring will remain. At Pretty Body and Line Clinic, we place the incision line along a line that clothing or underwear will cover. For an arm lift it is on the inner arm, for a thigh lift on the inner thigh, and for the abdomen and the back and flanks it varies with the extent of excision.
The more skin is excised, the longer the incision line becomes, so the decision should weigh the length of the scar against how much the sagging is resolved. In the consultation we mark the path of the incision line directly for you to see.
Can liposuction and a lift be done together?
They are often planned together. When the fat layer is thick and the skin is also stretched, it is more natural to shape the contour with liposuction first and then excise the remaining skin.
A lift involves incision and suturing, so both the anesthesia time and the recovery management are longer than for liposuction. At Pretty Body and Line Clinic, the director, who is a board-certified anesthesiologist, handles both the surgery and the anesthesia, and the attending surgeon follows your progress from before surgery through recovery and discharge.