This 48-year-old female patient had 360 liposuction using high definition VASER liposuction – right oblique view
Advantages of 360 Liposuction Versus Area by Area Liposuction
In this article, we will look at two approaches to liposuction, including 360 or area-by-area liposuction. Each of these liposuction techniques offers unique advantages and disadvantages. Choosing the right approach depends on which approach suits your personal needs.
Liposuction is one of the most popular cosmetic procedures as it removes fat from stubborn areas where exercise and diet often fail. Liposuction should not be seen as an alternative to losing weight but a solution to eliminating fat from problem areas. Many patients say these areas do not respond to diet or exercise. For example, the love handles in men are one of these areas that do not respond to exercise. In women, the lateral thighs can be very stubborn despite your best attempts to stay healthy and in shape.
Benefits of 360 Liposuction
360 liposuction is increasingly chosen by women and men who desire dramatic results with a single procedure. This approach is superior if you desire to contour your entire torso, meaning your front, back, and sides. Specifically, 360-degree liposuction provides unique goals that include:
- Elimination of fat deposits from all concerned areas
- Elimination of loose skin to avoid contour irregularities
- Circumferentially shapes the body as if you are a glorified statue
- Uses fat like putty to transfer to fill in contour irregularities or augment desired areas
When 360 liposuction is employed as a high definition surgical procedure, the body contouring procedure is called liposculpture. This unique liposuction procedure is in contrast to traditional liposuction.
As it is a circumferential approach, it provides more dramatic contouring results that are often transformative as improvements are appreciated from all angles. Furthermore, 360 liposuction requires more comprehensive postoperative regimens, such as wearing compression garments around the clock.
360 Liposuction treats More Areas
360 liposuction or circumferential liposuction involves treating the entire torso, which may include the upper, middle, and lower abdomen as well as the upper, middle, and lower back. Additional areas include the armpits, waistline, flanks, love handles, lateral thighs, medial thighs, and even the pelvis, hips, buttocks, and limbs. Due to the sheer number of areas your cosmetic surgeon may be treating, the contouring improvements will be more noticeable, allowing patients to obtain not only improvement in contour in concerned areas but also to become more proportionate and aesthetically harmonious.
Recovery from 360 Liposuction
Since 360 liposuction approach involves treating multiple areas, it is not surprising to appreciate that the recovery will be more rigorous than an area-by-area liposuction approach. At Surgisculpt, we use VASER Ultra-Sound Assisted liposuction, which is gentler on underlying tissues than tumescent liposuction. Using ultrasound-assisted energy to tease the fat cells off surrounding vessels and nerves, minimizing bruising and irritation to discomfort. Despite maintaining a larger treatment area, 360 liposuction performed with VASER does afford a tolerable recovery experience.
Patients should not expect to resume daily activities for at least a week. Strenuous physical activity, like going to the gym, can resume no earlier than two weeks after surgery. If your plastic surgeon includes excisions in your 360 body contouring plan, you may require three weeks to resume routine activities and four to six weeks for strenuous activities.
Recovery varies from patient to patient, depending on your pain threshold as well as from surgery to surgery. Following the surgeon’s recommendations is essential to ensure optimal final results.
Liposuction Area-by-Area
Liposuction area-by-area removes fat from localized, concerned areas only. Area-by-area liposuction, thus, is usually limited to a single side, such as the front or back sides, typically one or six areas at a time. Area-by-area liposuction may include the abdomen or back, encompassing up to four to six areas each. Some patients may present with specific concerns such as the arms, neck, or even the lateral or medial thighs. Men, in particular, often desire liposuction of the chest, i.e., gynecomastia, coined to describe defeminizing the male chest appearance.
This procedure focuses on removing fat from identified, specific problem areas. The most frequent localized areas that we have observed include the following:
- Lower belly
- Outer or lateral thighs, termed saddle bags
- Flanks termed love handles
- Under arms, termed bat wings
- Chest termed gynecomastia
- Chin and neck, termed turkey neck
Benefits of Liposuction Area-by-Area
Liposuction area-by-area will correct contour prominence by reducing the volume of fat cells in a specific area and subsequently improve contour by debulking the area. This approach is ideal if you only have a few specific areas to address. Liposuction area by area is usually performed using either traditional liposuction, Power-assisted liposuction, or Laser liposuction. Liposuction patients desiring focal removal of fatty deposits will usually describe a healthy lifestyle and history of stable weight but will complain of a specific problem area. This liposuction typically requires only the removal of focal deep fat, thus making this form of liposuction possible under local general anesthesia. Avoidance of general anesthesia means no grogginess specifically attributed to administered general anesthesia. In summary, area-by-area liposuction benefits from a quicker recovery with a return to daily routine activities in just a few days!
Side effects of Liposuction Area by Area
Liposuction area-by-area side effects arise from treating only a single or just a few problem areas at a time.
Compromised Silhouette – Because patients interested in liposuction area-by-area usually present with concerns of a single area, asymmetry or contour irregularities in transition zones may result from ignoring the body contour holistically. Limiting body contouring to a single region will limit your surgeon’s ability to ensure the symmetry of bilateral contours. More often, patients may observe the loss of smooth transitions between treated versus adjacent untreated areas.
Long-term body contour changes – When localized areas of the body are contoured, clients risk changes in other untreated body areas with weight change. This undesirable observation may occur since liposuction will differentially lower fat density in the treated areas compared to untreated areas. As a result, weight gain will result in disproportionate growth in fat cell volumes in the untreated areas. This undesired side effect is often misconceived by disgruntled patients stating that they underwent liposuction to eliminate unwanted fat, but instead, the fat has gone elsewhere.
Differences between 360 Liposuction and liposuction Area by Area Conclusion
The scope of desired changes and the liposuction technique employed can characterize the significant difference between the two liposuction surgeries. Although both consist of extracting fat, the results and patient satisfaction can vary significantly. ;
Liposuction area by area extracts fat from only a single or just a few areas. Instead, 360 liposuction addresses all concerned areas circumferentially, globally, and usually extracts more significant volumes of fat. The results of 360 liposuction are more dramatic than liposuction area by area.
However, although liposuction with a circumferential approach is more comprehensive, it is not indicated for all patients. If you want to get rid of fat from only one or two areas of your body and don’t have the luxury of a prolonged recovery, then the ideal approach to fat removal is liposuction area by area.
The most notable advantage of 360 liposuction is that it allows your surgeon to create a masterpiece transformation. This is because the entire body can be treated like a glorified statue. If a surgeon possesses an artistic eye and surgical fortitude, he or she can reshape your entire figure as the fat is extracted, harvested, and transferred to places where more curves or volume is desired. Removal of fat with 360-degree lipo will result in a contoured figure and the unveiling of abdominal muscles.
360 Liposuction and liposuction area by area Results
With liposuction area-by-area, results are discreet. Others may not notice the improvement unless you point it out to them. Of course, how noticeable the results are will depend on how prominent the area of concern was. Additionally, you must be vigilant about not gaining weight since it will show in untreated areas of the body that possess a higher density of body fat.
What Liposuction Alone Cannot Do
Liposuction area by area does not eliminate stretch marks, cellulitis, scars, or other irregularities like lax skin. If a significant amount of fat is removed from one area, like the belly, the skin’s intrinsic quality and the patient’s age determine if the skin has the elasticity to snap back up. When skin texture is decent, then minimal to moderate skin elasticity can be accommodated using minimally invasive Renuvion JJ-plasma skin tightening.
If the patient has moderate to extensive skin elasticity or has poor skin texture, such as stretch marks, it may be necessary for your surgeon to cut out excess skin, called excisional surgery. An experienced surgeon will minimize scarring and ensure the placement of the incision lines in positions that will be hidden by clothing, undergarments, and even bikinis.
The Bottom Line
The best liposuction solution, either 360 or area by area, depends on your goals. When considering your best option for liposuction, start with deciding the results you are looking for and how many concern areas you would like to address. You must also consider your recovery time. Then make an appointment for a consultation to share your goals and desired outcomes with our surgeons so that we can help you create the best plan for you.
