At Pretty Body and Line Clinic, we set the range by treating the areas to be suctioned not as separate spots but as one continuous surface. This is because if only one spot is suctioned, a border forms between that area and the area left untouched. Unevenness usually comes from these borders and from the depth of the layer being suctioned.
Where borders tend to form
In the abdomen, the upper abdomen, lower abdomen, flanks, love handles and waist are connected, and in the thigh, the front, inner, back and outer surfaces are connected, so suctioning only one surface makes it look out of step with the others. On the thigh, the borders above the knee and below the buttocks are where the line can easily appear broken, so at Pretty Body and Line Clinic we pay particular attention to that transition.
The skin on the arm is thin and the area is narrow, so if the suction layer is set shallow, irregularities easily show. That is why we set the range carefully.
How can I tell whether it is due to swelling?
The contour keeps changing while the swelling goes down. It varies from person to person, but the final result takes shape over 3–6 months, so it is too early to judge the result by how it looks right after surgery. Wearing the compression garment and your posture during recovery also affect the result.
When the cause is skin, not fat
For those who have given birth or gone through large weight changes, stretched skin can affect the contour more than the fat does. Liposuction reduces the thickness of the fat layer, so if the skin is already stretched, skin is left over in proportion to the volume removed. At Pretty Body and Line Clinic, we check both the thickness of the fat layer and the elasticity of the skin in the consultation.
Is revision possible for surgery done at another clinic?
It is possible. However, there is more to check than in a first operation. Tissue that has been operated on once develops adhesions as it heals, so the border of the fat layer is not as distinct as it was originally, and the remaining fat is not evenly distributed. Revision is therefore closer to evening out the uneven areas than to removing more.
We tell you whether improvement is possible after checking when and over what range the earlier surgery was done, where the irregularities you can feel now are, and how much skin elasticity remains. Tissue needs time to stabilize, so we do not recommend it immediately after a previous operation.