Stomach fat is often regarded as unhealthy, yet many women who are otherwise perfectly healthy have excess abdominal fat and find it almost impossible to shift. This can be a source of deep frustration. Thankfully, there is now an effective and modern solution to stubborn, difficult to remove stomach fat. It’s called laser liposuction.
35-year-old Jessica* found herself in the situation described above. She had two healthy, active children, an 8-year-old and a 4-year-old, and she herself was in good health. There was just one problem: she had an abnormal quantity of abdominal fat.
For as long as Jessica could remember, she’d always had a “big tummy”, as she herself put it. After her second pregnancy, Jessica became more worried about her abdominal fat. There was still too much of it and it had begun to sag, forming a slight overhang. Diet and exercise had little, or no impact and she worried that her stomach would get fatter and looser as she got older. She was concerned that her oversized stomach would prevent her from being the type of mother, friend and community member that she wanted to be.
Jessica had heard about the revolutionary laser liposuction treatment and wondered if it was right for her. She did some research and thought it sounded promising. With the aid of laser technology, a doctor focuses the liposuction procedure on the problem area. Bleeding and bruising is reduced and recovery time is swifter. Laser liposuction can also help improve skin tightness on the stomach.
Jessica made an appointment at the Sculpture Clinic in Melbourne and began a journey that transformed both her body and her life.
Once she decided to go through with the procedure, Dr Paraskevas talked Jessica through the process using computer visuals. On the day of the operation, Dr Paraskevas used a surgical pen to mark up the areas on her body that he would target. He gave Jessica a local anaesthetic and once that had taken effect, the laser liposuction procedure began.
Dr Paraskevas applied the laser to Jessica’s fat, which was simultaneously suctioned out. The procedure was remarkably gentle, resulting in reduced bleeding, bruising and postoperative discomfort. In fact, the operation was over in a matter of hours and Jessica went home the same day.
As the photos show, Jessica’s stubborn abdominal fat has been significantly reduced. There was some swelling and the markings were still visible on her body. Over the next few weeks, the swelling continued, and eventually settled as the months went by.
The canisters show what was actually removed from Jessica’s body. The blood-tinged fluid at the bottom of the canister is the tumescent anaesthetic (local anaesthetic) fluid. The lighter coloured fluid above it is the fat. Jessica had a total of 2500ml of fluid removed, and 400ml of that was the anaesthetic-tinged fluid, which means the rest was 2100ml of pure fat.
Here is the patient at 3-months post-surgery for a routine checkup. As you can see, there has been a dramatic change in the size, shape and smoothness of her stomach. She will continue to see more retraction of her abdomen over the next 6-12 months. Needless to say, Jessica is over the moon with the results of the operation, and her sculpted abs are now a source of great joy to her.
*The patient’s name has been changed to maintain her privacy.
