Liposuction is an awesome procedure for removing pockets of stubborn fat and slimming the contour of the area. VASER Liposuction simply improves on the procedure.
VASER stands for vibration amplification of sound energy at resonance. You can simply call it high-frequency ultrasound energy. In VASER Lipo the addition of the ultrasound energy works to gently break down the targeted fat cells. This dislodges the fat cells in the treatment areas, making them easier to remove.
VASER Liposuction is popular with our patients from Fall River and the surrounding areas because the addition of the high-frequency ultrasound energy to break up the fat means the cannula doesn’t have to be moved about as aggressively under the skin. In traditional liposuction, the cannula is moved back and forth rapidly under the skin to break up and break free the fat cells, which are then suctioned out through the cannula. Because VASER Lipo uses ultrasound energy to assist in this task, the cannula doesn’t need to be used as aggressively by Dr. Babbitt. That causes less tissue trauma, bleeding, and subsequent bruising through the treated areas. This also makes for less pain and easier recovery.
VASER Lipo also has another advantage of being effective for removing fat from fibrous tissue. This makes it popular with men and women with stronger builds.
Dr. Babbitt feels he has a great deal of control over the fat he removes to better sculpt the target areas. VASER liposuction delivers very smooth, contoured results.
First things first, VASER Lipo is not a weight-loss procedure; it’s a body contouring procedure. All liposuction methods are meant only to remove stubborn pockets of fat that are resistant to diet and targeted exercise. This slims and contours the treated areas. Dr. Babbitt requires his VASER Liposuction patients to be within 10 percent of their ideal weight. This maximizes the patient’s results.
Otherwise, there aren’t many people out there who don’t have unwanted pockets of stubborn fat that they could remove with VASER Liposuction at Dr. Babbitt’s.
VASER liposuction is excellent for all of these areas of the body: abdomen, thighs, knees, love handles, chest, upper arms, chin, and the neck. Because of the precision it allows, Dr. Babbitt can sculpt around certain muscles — in the abdomen, for instance — to enhance the patient’s results.
Just as ultrasound energy has been used in imaging for decades and more recently for skin tightening, these high-frequency sound waves improve liposuction in VASER Lipo.
For these procedures, Dr. Babbitt first injects the treatment area with tumescent solution. This is a mixture of sterile saline water, lidocaine, and epinephrine. The saline expands the area; the lidocaine provides local anesthesia, and the epinephrine constricts both the fat cells and the blood vessels. This makes the fat cells easier to break loose and creates less bleeding and subsequent bruising from the blood vessels.
The VASER tool delivers the sound waves through a long thin handpiece that is inserted through a tiny incision into the targeted area. These specialized VASER instruments are of different thicknesses and have different rings etched into their tips. These rings cause the ultrasonic energy to be dispersed in different directions, with different energy strengths, and these are matched by Dr. Babbitt to different treatment areas.
Once inserted, the ultrasound energy begins to gently break apart the fatty tissue. This takes the place of the aggressive movement of the cannula in traditional liposuction. Once Dr. Babbitt has allowed the VASER ultrasound energy to break up the fat, he inserts the cannula and suctions away the unwanted fat cells along with much of the tumescent solution. In most cases, the incisions are so small they can be closed with a Steri-Strip; there is no need for stitches. Any fluid remaining is absorbed by the body over the following days.
Patients can be put under general anesthesia or a form of conscious sedation. Also, remember that the tumescent solution injected into the target areas acts as a local anesthetic. These are painless procedures.
Thanks to VASER Liposuction’s ultrasound assist, these procedures create less tissue trauma, pain, and subsequent bruising than traditional liposuction. The ultrasonic energy works to dislodge and break up the fat cells without causing damage to surrounding connective tissue and blood vessels. This makes for an easier recovery.
Our VASER Lipo patients can usually get back to work in just 2-3 days. Driving and normal activity can resume as soon as you’re comfortable doing so.
There will be some swelling and bruising that will mask your results initially. Plus, with the fat removed, your skin will take some time to tighten down over the slimmer contour beneath. You’ll see a difference immediately, but your final contour may take from 3-6 months to fully be realized. Your small scars will be virtually invisible in just a few months.
Because this process is less traumatic to tissues in the treatment areas, patients are able to return to their exercise routines more quickly. You can begin walking as soon as it’s comfortable, usually just a day or two. You can return to your regular exercise regimen as soon as two weeks. You’ll have to pace yourself and let how comfortable you are be the guide to how much you can do.
Our patients love these procedures because, while they are invasive, they aren’t overly invasive. Still, liposuction of any form is surgery, so it entails the same risks involved with any surgery: excessive bleeding, infection, and reaction to the lidocaine used in the tumescent solution. These are all quite rare, and this is even more the case thanks to Dr. Babbitt’s board-certified training, expertise, and experience.
As for the high-frequency ultrasound energy that is assisting the process, ultrasound has been used across the medical world for decades. It has no harmful effects on the human body.
Complications specific to liposuction are:
If you are interested in learning more about how VASER liposuction can help get rid of those stubborn pockets of fat that just don’t seem to go away with the aid of diet and exercise, contact Plastic Surgery of Southern New England in Fall River, MA for a consultation.
