There is no specific weight you should have for liposuction, but you should be within your ideal weight. Most surgeons recommend being at least 30 pounds of your ideal weight or within 30% of your ideal weight. This depends on how much you weigh and your body composition. It works best in people who are not overweight and in areas where the skin is firm and elastic. It must be said that not everything depends on your BMI.
While BMI can be a useful and quick way to determine a person's health, it doesn't take into account muscle mass, body composition, genetics, or short-term factors affecting weight (such as pregnancy). In addition, there are several factors that a plastic surgeon will consider when evaluating a potential patient. It would be a mistake to base the decision on a single factor. During the consultation, your doctor will want to know if you are generally in good health, whether you are a smoker or a non-smoker, and what your expectations are for the outcome.
Not smoking and having a good general state of health are always indicators that there are fewer complications during any type of surgery, which, of course, is preferable. And your expectations are important so that the surgeon can evaluate whether you will be happy with the result. When a patient has unrealistic expectations that are impossible to achieve, undergoing surgery will only lead to frustration in the future. One of the fastest ways to know if liposuction or tummy tuck is best for you is to calculate your body mass index or BMI.
Measuring BMI is a simple screening method for classifying a person according to their weight, from an underweight person to a healthy, overweight and obese person. As mentioned before, this is a simple calculation that is based on height and weight. However, instead of doing the calculations yourself, we've made it easier with our BMI calculator. But in general, a BMI of less than 30 is good news.
In addition, it is especially suitable for minimally invasive procedures, such as liposuction and skin tightening. With your BMI, you're likely to do well in both procedures. Liposuction will take care of your extra pockets of fat, and adding BodyTite will help you tighten that skin even more. With a BMI between 30 and 35, you may still qualify for liposuction, but you're likely to get much better results with a tummy tuck.
Your total weight is still low enough that you don't have too many complications during surgery. However, your weight is high enough to indicate that your abdominal skin has stretched quite a bit. With those numbers, you're more likely to experience moderate to severe sagging after removing belly fat. You might go down a pant size or two, but you won't like the look of your belly.
Unfortunately, you're not an ideal candidate for liposuction, tummy tuck, or gastric balloon. The best option is to reduce weight with diet and exercise, or with semaglutide injections for weight loss. We hope we have helped you understand how to calculate your BMI to get a better idea of whether liposuction, tummy tuck or even a ball is for weight loss are the right procedure for you. If you're ready to get started, use the pink button to schedule a consultation with our board-certified plastic surgeon in Nashville or Memphis.
Generally speaking, the maximum amount of fat that can be removed with the liposuction procedure is 5000 ml. That's about 11 pounds on the scale. In reality, this amount is quite significant. So, imagine two and a half liters of soda from the grocery store. Technically, you can get rid of this amount of fat (in most cases).
Liposuction can work if you have a lot of body fat in specific places but otherwise have a stable body weight. Ideally, patients considering a liposuction procedure should be within 25% of their target body weight. Patients must maintain a stable weight over the long term for optimal results. If you plan to lose a significant amount of weight in the future, you should postpone liposuction until you are at or close to your ideal body weight. Ideal candidates for liposuction are those who have excess fat in their abdomen, thighs, arms, buttocks, or back.
Fat accumulation in certain areas is often due to genetic factors. Age is not considered a barrier to liposuction, and many people in their 60s can undergo the procedure as long as they have good skin elasticity. With the aging process, the skin begins to lose its elasticity, so older people may notice that they have excess sagging skin, which can affect the outcome of the procedure. BMI and weight stability Liposuction is most effective for people with a BMI of less than 35 who have maintained a stable weight.
It is a body shaping solution, not a weight-loss procedure, whose objective is to reshape areas that are resistant to diet and exercise. When most people who aren't familiar with plastic surgery or liposuction imagine the ideal patient for the procedure, that picture is usually one of significant weight loss. Rather than serving as a weight-loss method, liposuction focuses on refining the body's natural contours by addressing areas that are difficult to change. The amount of weight you can lose after a liposuction procedure varies depending on your goals, the part of the body the surgeon worked on, and the amount of fat that was actually removed.
Once you have undergone liposuction, the treated areas will not return to the same level as before, but existing fat cells may continue to increase in size compensatorily if you gain significant weight. However, after the surgery is complete, liposuction can be used to treat any area that is persistent or resistant to weight loss. Patients with severe skin laxity, often after massive weight loss, are more likely to need a skin removal procedure in combination with liposuction. Significantly obese patients with a body mass index greater than 40 may be suitable candidates for weight-loss surgery, including gastric sleeve or gastric bypass surgery.
Liposuction should never be considered a substitute for diet and exercise and is not a quick fix for lose weight. Patients with a significant amount of excess weight should focus on losing weight before a liposuction procedure. The skin loses some firmness as people age, but the results of liposuction usually last a long time if the weight is maintained. The short answer to this question is that, when considering liposuction, most surgeons will ask you to get a little closer to your ideal weight.
This may have been true at one time, and that doesn't mean that liposuction can't be part of a major weight loss plan. Overweight or obese patients should consider losing weight with diet and exercise to achieve and maintain their goal body weight before considering liposuction.
