Procedure

Consulting:

After making an appointment by phone or e-mail, the consultation takes place in my practice rooms. This consultation lasts at least one hour and is conducted by me personally.

If you have to travel from far away or even live abroad, there is always the possibility to have a consultation via video chat or video call (Skype: Lipoaesthetic.com). For this purpose you can arrange a video consultation appointment by e-mail or telephone.

 During the consultation, a general medical history will be taken, your overall medical situation will be examined and a risk profile will be drawn up. Above all, your expectations and wishes regarding the operation will be discussed. And you will get an overview of the expected costs.

 You will receive an individual consultation from me with a detailed discussion of the changes to your body that are possible during the operation. The risks of the operation will also be discussed.

On the basis of many sample photos you will get an exact idea of how your body will look like after the suction.

Should further questions arise after the detailed consultation, these can be discussed at any time by telephone or e-mail. If necessary, you can also arrange a second personal consultation.

 After the consultation, I will send you a written summary of the contents of our conversation, a cost estimate and the information sheet by email for your review. I will also send you documents for the examination by a general practitioner or internist of your choice, the so-called OP-ability, which is necessary before every operation.

 Once you have decided on the operation, you can make an appointment by telephone or e-mail. Regarding the desired date of the operation we will accommodate you as far as possible.

Operation:

If the date of the operation has been arranged, please come to the clinic half an hour before your appointment on an empty stomach. The duration of the operation depends on the extent of the agreed operation. As a rule, an operation takes between two and four hours. On the day of surgery, please wear comfortable clothing, no make-up and no nail polish; please do not wear jewellery and remove piercings in the surgery area.

 Before the operation we will have a conversation, mark the areas on your body to be suctioned off and carry out the photo documentation.

The surgery itself is performed either under local or general anesthesia. Small-scale suctioning can be performed under local anaesthesia; for large-scale suctioning of several body zones, general anaesthesia is the better alternative.

The operation begins with the introduction of a saline solution into the areas to be suctioned. This saline solution has various additives, including local anaesthetics. Once the solution has been introduced, the fat deposits are suctioned off layer by layer. Since this is done with very thin cannulas, it takes a certain amount of time. Once the suction process is complete, the small skin incisions are closed with adhesive strips or sutures.

A tight tape bandage is applied over the suctioned area for 24 hours. The compression girdle is placed over it. Since we work with liquid during the operation, the bandage does not remain completely dry after the operation. Therefore, wound secretion/fluid will leak out in the first hours after the operation. You will have no pain after the operation, as the local anaesthetics in the solution applied will prevent this.

If the procedure is performed as an outpatient and under local anesthesia, you can take a taxi home directly after the operation. If the procedure is performed on an outpatient basis and under general anesthesia, you can leave the clinic about 3 hours after the surgery.

For this purpose, organise a pick-up from the clinic and make sure that you do not spend the first night at home alone. Stay one night in the clinic, be picked up the next morning or take a taxi home.

After the operation, both I and the anaesthetist can be reached by telephone at any time.

Follow-up:

The first dressing change will take place the next day. The tape bandage is removed and you can already examine your new proportions.

A good 70-80% of the final result is already visible on the first day. Depending on skin and connective tissue type, even more. If your skin is not quite as tight, the remaining 20 – 30% will take up to half a year or more.  Furthermore, you will be instructed in how to use the girdle and you will also be given many tips and tricks for the next few weeks.

 During the first week after the procedure you will have aching muscles. There will be swelling and feelings of tension in the area of the operated areas. It may be necessary to take painkillers. Physical work in the first week after surgery should be avoided. Office work is possible from the 3rd/4th day after surgery. Optimal is one week at your disposal after the operation. However, these are only recommendations. How you arrange the time after the operation depends of course on your personal situation.

 Gentle lymphatic drainage and the intake of enzyme preparations to optimise the healing phase have proven to be effective. We also prescribe a special ointment to be applied to the skin. Sufficient external moisturisation is essential for the skin in the first weeks after the operation.

One week after the operation, we will see you the next time to remove the suture material or adhesive plasters. The next appointment will then take place four weeks after the operation. At this appointment the “after” pictures will be taken. The final appointment is then six months after the operation.

 The compression girdle should be worn for a total of 4 weeks; the first 2 weeks day and night, the third and fourth week only during the day. The bodice should not be worn for more than six weeks in total. The skin and connective tissue are a supporting organ, this should not be relieved by the bodice for too long, otherwise it loses its function, i.e. the skin becomes flabbier.

Sports activities should be done as early as possible; as a rule, this is possible again after 2 weeks; however, it should be started slowly and in small time units. Best sports for this are swimming and cycling; jogging will only be possible again from the 4th week. The sporting activity increases the blood circulation and the basal metabolic rate, which in turn is beneficial for wound healing.

Sauna, sunbathing and heavy physical exertion should be avoided in the first 4 weeks. After that, there is no restriction in terms of any activities.

Result:

Directly after the procedure and the next day when the tape bandage is removed, the significant improvement in body shape is already visible. However, the shape changes due to the swelling and water retention that occurs in the first 3-4 weeks after surgery. It takes six to eight weeks until all swellings have subsided; the final postoperative result is achieved after approximately 6-9 months; however, this only applies in cases where a larger regression of the skin is necessary. If the connective tissue is firm and the skin smooth and regular before the operation, you will have your perfect result after 6-8 weeks.

It should be noted that all fat cells that have been suctioned off do not grow back or are newly formed. Certainly not suddenly more fat cells suddenly appear elsewhere. This means that the new body shape achieved by liposuction is permanent.

This means that the new body shape will only change proportionally when weight gain or loss occurs later. The new contour created by the liposuction will remain the same.

Risks:

A distinction is made between medical and aesthetic risks.

 In the context of medical risks, we see general surgical risks such as infection, thrombosis and embolism. These risks are strongly related to the extent and length of the operation. These risks are slightly increased with liposuction under general anaesthesia.

The risk of infection is minimised in the case of large-area liposuction with a single dose of antibiotics during the operation.

The risk of thrombosis and embolization must be assessed individually. This is done in detail during the consultation. If risk factors such as family history, smoking and simultaneous use of birth control pills are present, thrombosis prophylaxis with low-molecular heparin is carried out.

During the first four weeks after the suction you will have muscle soreness in the operated area. There will be swelling, bruising and numbness. These irritations will be over after 6 weeks at the latest.