The Fat Comes Back with Liposuction

Websites promoting plastic surgery show a series of photos which seem like liposuction transforms one’s life. Liposuction continues to be one of the most popular forms of plastic surgery in the world. Each year nearly 450,000 operations are done, while each operation cost up to thousands of dollars. The big question remains, however; does the fat come back with liposuction? And, if so, where does this fat show up?

The answer wasn’t clear until now, which is surprising. Despite the fact that liposuction has been advertised heavily since 1974 no one seems to be questioning why the results took so long to come out. Dr. Robert H. Eckel and Dr. Teri L. Hernandez from Colorado University led a recent study which answered the above question. The results were not good.

The study put together a group of non-obese women. The first half of the group was randomly assigned by researchers to have liposuction on their lower abdomen and protuberant thighs. The second half was told to refrain from undergoing surgery. The second half was given compensation in the form that at the completion of the study, upon learning the results, they could still opt for liposuction at a reduced rate. Obesity published the results of the study in its latest issues. Yes, the fat came back, it took one year, but it still came back! The worst thing was that the fat was redistributed to the upper abdomen, instead of its original place, in the thighs. The redistributed fat also appeared on the triceps and around the shoulders.

Dr. Felmont Eaves III, a plastic surgeon from Charlotte, North Carolina and President of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, was surprised by the results; however he did proclaim that the study was conducted very well. Dr. Felmont further said that he would share this new information with his patients when they came in for liposuction procedure. This was not an easy study to do says Dr. Samuel Klein, director from Washington University School of Medicine. A study such as this requires financing and an expert group of researchers. Scans must be used to measure the fat, and all measuring must be done with absolute precision.

An ethicist from the University of Pennsylvania, Jonathan Moreno expressed his personal views. “A major problem with plastic surgery is that it is carried out by different surgeons. Each of these surgeons comes with a different set of techniques and skills. Surgery is not akin to taking drugs. Each surgery is different to the other, unlike pills just like every other pill that can be popped from time to time.”

This study, however, depended entirely on the biology of fat and not on the surgeon. The women didn’t get fat back on their thighs; probably because the liposuction destroyed the area where the fat cells live. Yet, no one seems to be surprised that the fat came back. The body is known to defend its fat and you can’t play around with Mother Nature without some repercussions. Even if you are on a diet, the fat is bound to come back later in life. When fat cells die new ones are born. Despite these results, the women were just pleased that the fat on their thighs were gone, while the second half happily opted for liposuction at reduced rates!