What is liposculpture?
Liposculpture or suction
lipectomy ("suction-assisted fat removal") is a cosmetic surgery
operation that removes fat from many different sites on the
human body. Areas affected can range from the abdomen, thighs,
buttocks, to the neck, backs of the arms and elsewhere. The fat
is usually removed via a cannula (a hollow tube) and aspirator
(a suction device).
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How is Laser Assisted Liposuction/Liposculpture performed?
 Your
Physician may prescribe a sedative prior to your procedure.
First, the treatment area is anesthetized and a small cannula
(wand-like apparatus which contains the laser fiber) is inserted
into a small incision thought the skin into the treatment area.
The physician maneuvers the laser fiber within the treatment
area making contact with the fat under the skin. The laser
energy disrupts and liquefies the fat which is then removed by
aspiration. After the procedure, a compression garment is use to
maintain the contours of the liposculpture.
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What are the
benefits of Laser Assisted Liposuction?
-
 Gentile
fat disruption and removal technique for small areas
- Treats areas that are
difficult for conventional liposuction
- Less invasive than a
neck or face lift
- May be performed under
local anesthesia only
- Procedure in your
physician's office
- Safe with minimal
bruising and side effects
- Minimal downtown
post-procedure
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What is
laser lipolysis?
Excess fat accumulates in many
areas of the body. Even if you eat right and exercise, these fat
deposits do not always disappear. Many often fear undergoing
extensive surgery procedures such as face and neck lifts or
conventional liposuction, but now there is a new alternative.
Laser-assisted lipolysis is a
laser-based procedure that uses a 1320nm wavelength laser to
liquefy and easily remove fat cells. Laser lipolysis is
effective in removing fat from problem areas such as under the
chin, neck and jowls or areas with loose skin such as the arms,
abdomen and thighs. The benefit of choosing laser lipolysis is
that along with removing fat, it also tightens and lifts the
skin.
CoolLipo is performed in your
physician's office, and due to its minimally invasive nature,
you may be awake for the duration of the procedure. unlike
conventional liposuction, you will be back on your feet within
days, and have minimal, if any, bruising.
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What is Board Certification? Why
does it matter?
Some physician who do "liposuction only" are board certified but
not in Surgery. Dr. Hovorka is board certified by the American
Board of Surgery.
His surgical training includes minimally invasive procedures.
Valley Laser was established to keep up with advancing
technology to give the patient a state of the art facility with
all the latest equipment and certified personnel.
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I had a tummy tuck, now my jeans
don't fit. what can you do?
Glad you asked. As of June 2008, 85% of the new patient we see
already have had a cosmetic procedure by another practitioner
and the majority of the procedures performed are to "re-do" some
area or areas that the patient is not happy with. This
website hopefully will answer some of your questions before you
even call. Of course, you should always see your previous
cosmetic surgeon if at all possible, and we encourage second or
even third opinions. You need to know your options and
make an informed decision about what you want. If you
don't know what you want, I don't think you are ready for an
elective cosmetic procedure yet, and we can help you find out
what it is that you want.
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I WANT A TUMMY TUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
can you help?
OK, I hear that every day. What is it that you want to get
in terms of shape, and/or body image. Many individuals
simply want to fit in their clothes and currently find that they
CAN'T... the shape of the body changed or just isn't what
it used to be.
Ask yourself these questions today and come back again later and
ask yourself tomorrow:
Would you like to wear a bikini?
Where do you like your jeans to fit?
Have you had children by C-section?
What types of exercise and diet have you tried?
Often I see patients that are not certain exactly what they
want, they jus want to see a "FLAT STOMACH." This can
usually be achieved without a large incision and without drains
as in a traditional tummy tuck I know that my own wife
REALLY wanted a tummy tuck... (with liposuction on the sides).
I sat down with her and went over the procedure and compared and
contrasted laser assisted liposuction alone versus traditional
liposuction and a tummy tuck/mini-tummy tuck/tummy tuck with
liposuction on the sides. After looking at before and
after pictures of many other patients with all of the above she
chose laser assisted liposuction and has been very happy with
her results.
I have been practicing traumatic surgery in McAllen, Texas since
2002. We see a LOT of really bad accidents as well as
things that weren't accidental. During that time I have
worked closely with the wound care centers in the Rio Grande
Valley and still maintain HBO (hyperbaric oxygen therapy)
privileges. When the wound care center director gets a
patient that has a large gaping wound after a cosmetic
procedure, I often get called. The point of minimally
invasive surgery is that to some degree if the result can be
accomplished with a smaller incision the "inflammatory reaction
" (in essence the trauma to the tissue) really is a lot less.
Surgical Axiom: Wounds heal from side to side, they don't
heal up and down... So stated the late G. Tom Shires, MD, FACS,
the well known surgeon regarding trauma as well as the author of
much research and surgical textbooks. If incisions can be
kept small enough so that the "up and down" part is quite short,
especially if it is about a centimeter (3/8 inch) the side to
side part (how far it gapes open) is so miniscule (small) that
it does not even require stitches. When I think of dr.
Shires on rounds (what we call it when we see patients in the
hospital) and think of all of the cosmetic procedures that I
have seen that needed some adjuvant HBO (meaning additional
hyperbaric oxygen therapy to get the wound to heal in and
granulate)_ what I'm really thinking is, yeah so just keep the
side to side part in the skin smaller if at all possible!
Now, many individuals are quite happy with their operation and
their surgeon even if the wound/incision does open up and drain
and they have to go and get hyperbaric oxygen therapy in order
to get the wound to heal. Some patients even with diabetes
and other co-morbidities (what we call it when you have other
medical problems) continue to get a tummy tuck after every baby
and have the wound fail to heal and spend months having it
granulated in (heal from side to side) even with the need for
adjuvant hyperbaric oxygen therapy and serial (meaning multiple)
debridements (meaning cutting out the dead skin so the rest of
it can heal together). In my experience, most (but not
all) patients are completely fine with this, and in fact that is
just what they want.
As for Valley Laser if your goals can be safely achieved without
large incision more than likely the recommendation would be to
go with laser assisted liposculpture (another word for
liposuction) to tighten the skin that without the laser may have
to be surgically excised. In the literature there
theoretically is a higher risk of "seroma formation" and akin
"burns." At Valley Laser we are cognizant of this fact and
fortunately we have not seen either that are clinically
significant. I attribute this to attention to detail
(including compression garments after the procedure), a
competent staff and prudent follow-up with the patients.
You will have at least some follow up to check for any fluid
collections. As we generally can not see them with our
eyes we use ultrasound to scan all patients post procedure to
assure that there is no area that could potentially develop into
a seroma.
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Does that mean you have to stick
me with needles after you already DID the procedure?
Sometimes, we feel it may be prudent to drain it out with
ultrasound guidance, although usually the amount we suck out is
less than 1/10th of an ounce of fluid. The mainstay of therapy
after the procedure is appropriate compression therapy on the
area that has been treated. The body will then eliminate
this fluid primarily by the lymphatic system.
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What if I have problems with my
Lymphatic system?
You mean your LYMPHATIC system. Rest assured that we do
have a device to screen all patients for extracellular and extra
vascular fluid non-invasively. The SFB-7 device will tell
us your body fat before and after the procedure as well as give
us some information about how much fluid is above or below the
area we plan to work on. With a combination of prudent
(that means if it should be done) adjustment of compression
therapy and recognition of potential problems with the lymphatic
system before they occur we can develop a plan just for you.
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But what if I do swell up even
with all of that THEN WHAT!!!{in a panicked voice}
Again, rest assured that we do have a technician with training
in MLD, Manual Lymphatic Drainage to assist you in recovering as
safely and quickly as possible. It is quite unusual to
schedule MLD after liposuction and for a patient that
potentially could be at risk before the procedure we do identify
it and schedule it if needed, all under the same roof. The
lymphatic system drains quite slowly, so in the rare instance it
is needed, usually only one or two treatments are needed.
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So does that mean that I don't
have to do anything to get what I want?
At Valley Laser at least to some degree we feel that everyone
needs to take some active role in their life and wellness as
well as fitting into their jeans. To that end if you want
to work out and just can't stand all that skin flopping around,
yeah we can help. If there are stubborn areas that don't
go away, yeah we can help. If you had some babies and have
to lift up your skin every time you sit on the toilet so urine
doesn't run all over it or it doesn't hang in the toilet bowl...
Obviously, you would have to be evaluated, and YEAH, even then
laser assisted liposuction can melt and suck out the fat and
tighten the skin so your belly is as flat as your muscle.
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Will laser assisted liposuction
replace the traditional "tummy tuck?"
I think that the patients that want a tummy tuck after every
baby will still get a tummy tuck after every baby (hey, some
people just want some well deserved time off).
Dr. Hovorka to his wife Wendy: Why did you opt for laser
assisted liposuction when you could have had a tummy tuck AND
liposuction on the sides?
Wendy: Because you are the BEST, BABY XXXOOOXXXOOO
Dr. Hovorka: OK, Wendy you are my wife and always loyal,
so why should someone ELSE opt of laser assisted liposuction.
Wendy: Ok, I didn't want a big scar as I don't have one
now and wanted my skin tighter.
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Can you do my chin?
Not much to it at all. For one low price we can melt the fat and
tighten that skin under the chin.
Chin and Neck?
A little more to it. Will require a little more
sucking out of the fat and tightening of the skin. Top
Eyelids, Face, Arms, Front/Back
bra strap and Buffalo Hump?
Eyelids: depending on your goal, yes it can help.
Face: Yes
Arms: Yes, really quite popular especially with the front
bra strap area.
Front: Yes
Buffalo Hump: Yes
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Hey, I just have a "lipoma" and
my doctor said he makes an incision to "cut it out." Can
you do that?
Why yes, we can and I prefer to melt the fat and suck
it out. A very nice cosmetic result.
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I already had a tummy tuck and
now I DON'T fit in my jeans!!!
Not to worry, patients choose Valley Laser as the laser gives
you skin tightening that previously was only available by
surgical excision (see above).
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