Monday, 22 June 2009 06:19
Chiseling out the excess
Body contouring uses a bunch of different body sculpting techniques to remove both extra fat and extra skin. It's considered one of the safer ways to use cosmetic surgery and was originally used to shape and sculpt the body after excessive weight loss. Nowadays though, it's often used by people who want to repair or improve a particular part of their body, or those who might have a birth defect or an injury.
Different ways to shape up
There are different ways to sculpt your body to change your curves and one of the most popular methods is
liposuction. Liposuction involves insertion of a tiny tube into an incision to suck out fat; newer forms of liposuction, called ‘SmartLipo’ need an even smaller incision, use fast-moving lasers and are quick enough to be labeled ‘lunch-time lipo’. Apart from liposuction, other body contouring methods include the tummy tuck, which works on the abdominal region, and the body lift procedure which works on different regions of your body at the same time, allowing you to have a 'lower body lift' or an 'upper body lift', or even both. You could also work on a specific part of your body that's been a problem area – arm lifts, thigh lifts and breast lifts are all popular procedures. Men sometimes opt for male breast reduction. Extra tissue can be removed in as little time as an hour.
Body contouring: sounds really simple?
It does sound really simple but body contouring isn't a miracle cure that works for everyone. You have to be ready for it, both mentally and physically, and this involves a lot of time and patience and the understanding that body contouring isn't some sort of miracle cure.
If there's any safety in numbers, it might help to know that in the US, the American Society of Bariatric Surgery estimates that in 2008, 200,000 people will undergo excessive weight loss surgery and 75% of them will opt for body contouring procedures after it. Patients usually opt for body contouring procedures to work on parts of the body that seem absolutely resistant to exercise and eating right.
When does it work best?
People like Rita who have lost a lot of weight are strong candidates for body contouring procedures. It's necessary to wait at least between six months and a year for your weight to be stable before undergoing the body contouring procedure. Surgeons also check for mental preparedness: people with eating disorders who are unhappy with the way they look in general are not advised to undergo body contouring surgery. If you're too young, body contouring might not work for you either, since teenagers' bodies are constantly changing.
Not a miracle
You also need to understand that body contouring will not necessarily change the way you interact with the world around you, or personal relationships. If you're healthy and generally well-adjusted and are simply looking for specific work on areas of your body that could do with improvement, then it's more likely that body contouring procedures will work for you.
