For some of us, weight gain happens overnight. One day you’re fine with your body image, and the next you wake up noticing that every morsel of delicious food you’ve eaten has gone straight down to your hips. It’s not an ideal situation for anyone and even less fun when those stubborn pounds of unwanted fat refuse to budge. Fortunately, the experts at RNA Medical Aesthetics in Johnson City, TN are well-versed in treatments that can help you achieve your aesthetic goals, such as Laser Liposuction.
How Much Weight Can You Lose With Laser Lipo?
On average, the majority of patients who use this treatment can expect to lose about 25 pounds from their total body weight. Losing this much weight is equivalent to at least one pant size, but depending on the distribution of your desired body fat removal, losing roughly 25 pounds will give you an overall slimmer appearance.
Do Some People Lose Weight More Than Others?
Sometimes, yes. While 25 pounds is certainly the average, some people may lose between 30 and 40 pounds. The amount of weight you will lose depends on a few factors, such as how much body fat was removed by the treatment and how well your body responds to the treatment. Your age and gender are also factors that will determine how much weight you will lose.
How Many Inches Around Your Waist Can You Expect to Lose?
Most patients can expect to lose an average of 1 to 2 inches from the waist with this liposuction treatment alone. In fact, on virtually every major body area that is treated, you can anticipate snipping about one inch from the girth of your limbs, such as the arms and the thighs.
However, some people lose more inches than that. There are studies that indicate patients who have particularly high body mass can lose between 5 to 10 inches of fat with repeated treatments. Depending on your exact body composition, the potential to lose multiple inches from your waist is high.
What Are Your Treatment Appointments Like?
Your treatment appointments will vary in length depending on how many areas of your body you want to treat, the fat composition of those areas, and how large those areas are. Generally speaking, you can expect that treating each desired treatment area will take about 1 hour. This means that if you have 2 main treatment areas that you want to treat at one time, your appointment will take 2 hours.
This treatment is not painful and does not require any type of anesthesia. At most, patients feel that they are getting a heated massage and will feel a gentle heating sensation for the duration of the treatment appointment. You will be able to return to your normal daily activities, including driving yourself home and returning to work, after your treatment is complete.
How Many Appointments Will You Need?
The number of appointments you will need depends entirely on the fat distribution of the area being treated and how large that area is. For example, small treatment areas such as those beneath the chin, on the neck, and even your underarms, will usually only require one treatment to achieve optimal results. Other areas of your body where there are more fat cells, such as the hips, stomach, and thighs, may require more treatments.
On average, each of your treatment appointments will destroy up to 25% of existing fat cells. If your goal is to use this treatment to destroy as many fat cells as possible and you have areas of treatment with higher concentrations of fat distribution, you may require more than one treatment. We will help you determine the number of treatments appropriate for your aesthetic goals.
How Soon Can You Enjoy Results?
While you will be immediately recovered from this treatment, you should know that the results will take some time to manifest. Most patients can see the beginning of their results within 1 week, which will be evident in the slimming of the treatment area. Your results will gradually improve as you continue to shed fat for the next 4 to 6 months. After at least 4 months, your results will be most evident.
Will You Gain Weight After Your Treatment?
Yes – and that’s okay! A lot of patients are surprised to learn that they will probably gain about 10 pounds after the results of their treatment have settled, but this is perfectly normal. Although this treatment destroys fat cells in your body, the human body still requires fat to function normally as fat is used for energy storage. Any weight you regain in the 6 to 12 months after your treatment should be expected and regarded as natural body fat.
Will Fat Come Back After Treatment?
Yes and no. Fat cells are unique in the human body because once they are destroyed, they are not capable of regenerating. While other cells in your body, such as skin cells, are continually cycling through different stages, fat cells have no cycle; once they are gone, they are gone for good. But how does that factor into the possibility of regaining the fat after treatment?
The truth is that no matter how good a fat removal treatment is, there will always be some small amount of fat cells left behind that are not completely destroyed or removed. The remaining fat cells will continue to function normally, which means swelling to accommodate fat for fuel. However, because there are fewer fat cells than before, the amount of body fat that can be regained is minuscule.
Where Can You Have This Treatment?
Fat removal treatments such as this one can be used on multiple areas on the body, provided there is enough fat present for safe removal. This treatment is commonly used in areas such as:
- Under chin
- Neck
- Breasts or chest
- Underarms
- Stomach
- Hips
- Buttocks
- Thighs
The most common areas of treatment are the stomach and the thighs, both of which have a tendency to store fat more easily. Because getting rid of stomach fat is more difficult due to the higher concentration of fat cells present in that area, using laser liposuction in conjunction with diet and exercise should help shed all undesired fat from your body.
Is There an Ideal Weight for Laser Liposuction?
Yes and no. Ideal candidates for this treatment have a BMI within a normal range. However, because BMI is an imperfect measurement, we may rely on other calculations to determine if you are at an ideal weight for this treatment. For example, we may measure your waist-to-hip ratio or your wast-to-height ratio, or collect other information about your fat distribution.
Why Can’t This Treatment Be Used to Start Your Weight Loss Journey?
For some patients, taking the first step to lose weight through traditional diet and exercise may be difficult or ineffectual. However, this treatment is not a replacement for other ways of losing weight. If you have a higher BMI or your weight is not ideal for this treatment, you will be encouraged to lose weight another way. This is because this treatment is a “finish line” treatment will helps conclude your weight loss journey.
In fact, because your recovery process will encourage you to engage in regular light-to-medium paced exercise, it’s best to have instilled exercise as a habitual activity. This not only helps improve your overall health but will also help ensure that you can enjoy results sooner – and that those results will last a lifetime.
Is There a Best Age for Laser Liposuction?
No. As long as you are over the age of 21 and have an acceptable amount of weight that can be removed, you are likely a good candidate for this treatment. Age is not a factor in determining who can have this treatment.
Is There a Best Time for Laser Liposuction?
Yes. If you are a woman and you are not done having children, then you should postpone your treatment until you are no longer planning to become pregnant as pregnancy will undo the results of this treatment. However, aside from this one restriction, there is no “best time” for this treatment. You should pursue this treatment if you are no longer satisfied with your appearance, whenever that is.
As a point of note, however, if you are seeking to use this treatment to lose weight before an important life event, such as a wedding or swimsuit season, you should be sure to schedule your treatments at least 6 months in advance so you can obtain results before your important date.
How Can You Maintain Your Weight Goal?
In addition to using this liposuction treatment and taking advantage of its long-lasting results, there are other things you can do to manage your weight goal. In fact, this treatment is only a small portion of what should be major lifestyle changes that will help you maintain your ideal aesthetic image. Some things you can do include:
Eat Healthily
Eating a healthy and balanced diet is essential to maintaining a healthy weight. For most people, making simple adjustments to your daily intake of added sugars and cutting down on sodium are easy ways to ensure you are eating healthily. The key to eating healthy is to eat in moderation and to limit the consumption of certain foods, such as refined grains and artificial sugars, that lead to weight gain.
Drink Water
Drinking water helps your body filter out toxins and other things that allow your body to gain weight. For example, because sugar is transported through the blood and then stored as fat, drinking higher quantities of water will help filter sugar out of your body more quickly, which will not give sugar enough time to form into fat. Adults should intake at least 48 to 64 oz of water each day.
Sleep Well
Your metabolism relies heavily on a well-regulated sleep schedule. If you sleep poorly or do not get enough sleep, your body will slow your metabolism, which makes it easier to gain weight. Sleeping 6 to 8 hours each night will ensure all of your bodily functions are regulated, including those attached to weight management.
Exercise Regularly
Regular exercise will help keep your metabolic rate high enough to burn calories to prevent future fat formation. The best way to determine if you are getting adequate exercise is to measure by both time and heart rate. Adults should have about 3 hours of exercise each week that elevates the heart rate to the “weight control” zone, which is between 120 and 140 beats per minute.
Melt Off Unwanted Pounds With Laser Lipo
You don’t have to live with unwanted fat on your body. With the right treatment, melting off unwanted pounds and enjoying long-lasting results is easy. If you think laser lipo is a good treatment option to achieve your aesthetic goals, please contact RNA Medical Aesthetics in Johnson City, TN to schedule your initial consultation today.