Body Surgery
Our 4 Most Popular Body Procedures
A youthful healthy body countour is an essential component of human attraction.
Removing excess fat while retaining proper symmetry and proportionality is our goal.
Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty)
An abdominoplasty is a surgical procedure intended to flatten and strengthen the abdomen. The majority of our tummy tuck patients are female, where weight gain and multiple pregnancies have weakened their stomach muscles resulting in unsightly belly distension (diastasis) or lower abdominal overhang.The Procedure
In a typical abdominoplasty the surgeon makes a horizontal incision along a line at or near the lower border of the abdominal region (below patient’s waistband). A second incision is then made around the navel in order to reposition it. The flap or overhang of excess skin is removed. Often patients will have liposuction treatment to remove fat deposits (panniculus). For patients with more extensive problems, longer incisions may be used, looping from the midsection, to remove excess skin and fat from the flanks. The initial incision is typically followed by procedures to tighten abdominal muscles, which will further flatten the patient’s stomach.The skin is then sutured along the main incision. In most cases, additional incisions follow to isolate the navel from abdominal skin and reposition it to its ideal post surgical location. The procedure described above may be referred to as a traditional or conventional abdominoplasty. There are other variations, which have been developed to address specific problems.
One popular example is the mini-abdominoplasty, in which a relatively short incision is made along the lower abdomen. Instead of an operation entailing the full abdomen, a mini-tummy tuck is focused on problems below the navel. It is a less intensive operation for people with limited overhang, less skin and fat. Package surgery combinations, the so-called “mommy makeover”, will often include a mini-abdominoplasty to limit the overall surgical trauma to the patient.
Suitability
Patients with overly-stretched skin or diastasis as a result of pregnancy may be suitable candidates. Moreover, people who have undergone significant weight loss with resulting areas of loose abdominal skin may can be suitable candidates and may further add targeted liposuction to complete their aesthetic body contouring. Male patients through age or poor lifestyle habits, who suffer abdominal weakness and excess belly fat, could also be appropriate surgery candidates.Risks
As a major surgical procedure, abdominoplasty requires general anesthesia, with all its associated risks. And as invasive surgery all the normal complications could be in play such as infection at the suture site, unexpected scarring, pain or numbness at the wound site and reduced mobility due to pain. Patients may also experience haematomas or seromas (both rare), in which blood or fluid pools under the skin at the wound site. This would require some kind of drainage.Post-Op
Most patients remain in hospital for minimum of 2 nights. During this time the healthcare team will apply dressings, administer appropriate medication and monitor rate of healing. Longer term, patients should restrict activity for the first 2-3 weeks. Patients may resume more vigorous activity (including exercise, sports or movement-intensive hobbies) after minimum of 6-10 weeks.
Liposuction
Liposuction is a surgical method used to remove excess fat from areas of the body such as abdomen, buttocks, thighs, arms, etc. The procedure consists of the surgeon inserting a hollow steel tube, called a cannula, underneath the skin. The tube is then used to apply suction, break up the fat cells and remove them. This medical procedure is done either under general anaesthesia, IV sedation, or local anaesthesia depending on the extent of the treated area.The procedure is popular with patients who want to remove areas of stubborn fat and smooth uneven body contours.
Wet technique
Most surgeons use the traditional wet technique, which involves the addition of 200 to 300 cc of saline solution, plus some additives of epinephrine and lidocaine. The operation starts by injecting a solution to attain a certain firmness within the target tissues. The lidocaine deadens the nerves, while the epinephrine causes constriction of the blood vessels, which reduces blood loss. The addition of epinephrine has the added advantage of preventing the lidocaine from entering the blood stream sooner than necessary.As this is a blind procedure, the surgeon must rely on palpating the area while passing the cannula through the tissues, in order to judge effectiveness and progress. For deeper layers of fat, larger diameter cannulas are used. For refined shaping, the surgeon will use smaller diameter cannulas that allow removal of fat in difficult sections. Instrument strokes that are transverse to the alignment of the tissues and at more than one point of entry are important for natural looking results.
Post-op
Since liposuction is one of the least invasive plastic surgery procedures, patients can expect rapid recovery with most swelling and bruises subsiding after about a week; residual swelling to dissipate within a few weeks thereafter.
Arm Lift (Brachioplasty)
Also known as an Arm Lift, a brachioplasty procedure is used to remove fat and skin above the elbow to correct drooping fleshy upper arms, a condition rather common in women over 40. It offers an improved upper arm contour and a younger, healthier appearance. Before considering an Arm Lift patients may want to consider lifestyle changes of the problem is not too severe. Indeed, exercise can strengthen and improve upper arm muscle tone, but it cannot shrink extra (stretched) skin that has lost its elasticity.With a standard brachioplasty, performed under full anesthesia, the surgeon makes one or more incisions from the elbow region to the armpits. The main surgical task is to remove excess skin and subcutaneous adipose tissue from the arm. If excess tissue is located only at the upper arm, the surgeon may opt to use a smaller incision in the armpit area.
After sufficient tissue is removed, the surgeon closes the arm. The patient is then fitted with a cloth bandage followed by a compression garment to stabilize the wound and encourage rapid healing as well as minimize swelling and bruising.
For patients concerned about scarring, microsurgical suturing can minimize scar width. The scar being located on the inside of the arm, it is easily concealed with cosmetics or clothing. However, patients must be aware that although an arm lift scar will diminish over time it will always be perceptible. First phase recovery period is around 10-14 days and with fade-out of scar extending to about 6 months.
The occurrence of complications after brachioplasty is usually rare. However, as possible with most plastic surgery, there is a possibility of bleeding, anaesthesia risk, delayed wound healing, fat necrosis, or numbness.
Buttock Lift
Buttock lift surgery is used to improve the tautness and tone of the buttocks as well as improving surface smoothness and contour. As patients age, the buttock undergoes changes due to multiple factors such as genetics, gravity, weight gain/loss. In some cases, liposuction wil be used to enhance the buttock contouring result. The surgery is performed under general anaesthesia and usually takes about two to three hours. Under the most common variant of the procedure, the surgeon makes incisions from the groin to hip region after which skin in the upper buttock region is removed and then pulled to close the incision. This lifts the buttock region and tightens any loose, sagging skin.Another approach, a Posterior Lower Body Lift, is a lower incision in the fold between your buttock and back of the thigh. The purpose of this procedure is to raise and reduce the size of the buttock by removing excess skin and fat of the upper buttock. The buttocks are raised with buttock wrinkles pulled tight to reduce or eliminated them.
Some other buttock lift variants involve removing upper buttock skin and fat; this type of buttock lift eliminates buttock skin wrinkles and reduces the size by removing the upper layer of buttock skin and rotating the remaining fat and dermal layer to maintain and augment the buttock profile. This is called a dermal flap or a propeller flap lift, also known as an Autologous Augmentation Gluteoplasty with Dermal Fat Flap.
Post Op
After the buttock lift, patient can expect to wear a compression garment for approximately six weeks or until the swelling has resolved. Ffull recovery extends to several months. During first phase, patient ability to sit for extended periods will be compromised.