What happens before body contouring?
First, you will meet with a plastic surgeon. You will discuss:
- Your goals.
- Your medical history, including health conditions, allergies and previous surgeries.
- Any medicines you take, including vitamins and over-the-counter medicines.
- Use of alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs.
The healthcare professional will:
- Examine and measure the area(s) you want to change.
- Draw the area(s) with a marker or pen.
- Take pictures.
- Discuss your options and make recommendations.
- Review the risks and options, and discuss anesthesia and postoperative pain control if you are considering surgery.
If you decide to proceed, you will need to sign a consent form. By signing it, you give your healthcare provider permission to perform the procedure. You also agree that you understand the risks of the process and have realistic expectations.
Depending on the type of body sculpting you choose, your healthcare team may ask you to:
- Get blood drawn or have a physical exam with your primary care provider.
- Quit smoking.
- Stop taking certain medications (for example, aspirin, NSAIDs, and herbal supplements).
What happens during liposuction and other body contouring surgeries?
Most cosmetic procedures are performed in a surgeon’s office, surgery center, or hospital. The process can take anywhere from 45 minutes to several hours, depending on what you have done.
For surgeries, the team can:
- Mark the points preoperatively
- Place you on an operating table and do safety checks with hospitalization and anesthesia.
- Administer anesthesia — local or general — based on the procedure.
- Cleanse and prepare the skin in the surgical area.
- Make incisions (cuts) in your skin — these are based on the procedure(s) being performed.
- Trim, reposition, or shape tissue and excess fat to create the look you want.
- Muscle tightening during abdominoplasty is a common phenomenon.
- Cut off excess skin.
- Remove excess fat using liposuction alone or in combination with other procedures.
- Close any incisions when the process is complete.
- Apply bandages.
What happens during non-surgical lipolysis?
Most lipolysis procedures are performed in an office or clinic. A session lasts about 30 to 60 minutes.
The team can:
- Give a gown or hospital gown to wear.
- Place yourself on a chair or table.
- Mark the skin with a pen or marker.
- Inject a medicine into the area where you want to reduce fat (for injectable lipolysis).
- Use a tool (such as a paddle or wand) to deliver ultrasound waves, laser beams, cold or heat, depending on the type of lipolysis.
Most people need several treatment sessions to see results.
What happens after body contouring?
Most people go home the same day, even after surgery. If you are having surgery, you should have someone drive you home and stay with you the first night. And you may have a thin tube near one or more incisions to drain fluid and prevent swelling.
Your surgical team will give you recovery instructions. They may include:
- Care of drains and change of dressings.
- Beware of excessive activity, but wandering (moving) to avoid blood clots.
- Report any complications — these will be explained pre-operatively.
- Staying out of the sun.
- Using medicines (for example, ointments or pills) to control pain or prevent infection.
For non-surgical body sculpting, you will leave the office or clinic immediately after the procedure. You usually won’t need a ride home and can go about your day as normal.
