Liposuction is a body contouring procedure that removes localized fat collections by gentle aspiration through small, hidden access ports. Modern liposuction techniques, however, are not merely the removal of unwanted fat through crude mechanical destruction and suction, but the simultaneous liquefaction (melting of the adipose) leading to more gentle removal of fat and the contraction of overlying soft tissue.
Our cutting-edge techniques make removing fat in its liquefied state (creates like a ‘mango smoothie’ of fat) a gentler process with less bruising, swelling and pain than ever before. Even more important than improved recovery, the use of heat energy provides a very strong internal soft tissue contraction.
Common locations for liposuction include the chin, cheeks, neck, upper arms, back, above the breasts, upper and lower abdomen, upper buttocks, hips, thighs, knees, calves, and ankles.
Liposuction pricing in Toronto at SpaMedica is priced by zone. Small zones start at $4,999, and large zones start at $6,999. Some areas, like the inner knee, can cost as little as $800, and the upper back can cost as much as $6,800 – depending on how much fat you store in the area you would like treated. Contact SpaMedica for more information and accurate pricing pertaining to your specific goals.
Modern Liposuction in Toronto using energy-assisted devices such as SmartLipo™, BodyTite™ and VASERLipo™ is associated with a quicker recovery than traditional lipo. It is common for individuals to undergo moderate-sized multiple-area liposuction and return to very light, sedentary work the following day. It is usually recommended, however, that patients take 2-3 days off post-procedure to allow for rest and recovery. This, of course, depends upon how many zones you are treating.
Most liposuction procedures in Toronto are performed under local anesthesia and take between 1-4 hours, depending upon the number of zones.
Liposuction can remove fat from the following areas:
The best candidates are those prospective liposuction Toronto patients with unwanted localized pockets and collections of fat that detract from their ideal shape and contour and have tried their best at diet and exercise to modify their shape and figure. Good candidates are healthy without uncontrolled illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease or hypertension.
You should not seek out liposuction if you have an unrealistic idea about the shape and figure you can achieve, are medically unwell, are excessively overweight, have overly loose and damaged skin, or have a pacemaker. Pregnant patients are also ineligible.
Ideally, as a candidate, you will be within 30% of your ideal weight (or “goal weight”), be a non-smoker, and have firm skin that will bounce back after the procedure. To find out if you’re a good candidate for liposuction, contact the SpaMedica team to book a consultation today and discuss your options!
Improved Shape and Contour
As liposuction reduces localized fat pockets in the body that detract from contour, the prime benefit of liposuction is its ability to improve contour shape and form.
Better Mobility
As liposuction reduces fat pockets in the body, it’s not uncommon for those who have undergone surgery to experience a boost of mobility in the knees, thighs and hips.
Improved Self-esteem
Naturally, your self-esteem is linked to your physical appearance. Those who suffer from localized overgrowth of fat and bulging pockets, distorts ideal contours and those patients can feel less confident about themselves. As liposuction can transform a person’s physical appearance, it can also improve your confidence.
A Healthier Lifestyle
After liposuction, it’s essential to keep your weight within 5-10 pounds of your post-lipo weight to maintain your results properly. Because of this, many find that their lifestyles and food choices become healthier.
Reduce Blood Fat Levels
In 2011, a study of 229 people that had liposuction, showed that those with high blood fat levels before the surgery benefited from a 43% reduction in their triglycerides. This occurs with high volumes of localized fat reduction.
Liposuction is the most common cosmetic procedure in North America, with over one million patients undergoing surgery yearly. The risk of a severe complication is extremely low, especially when all the safety precautions and monitoring policies are in place.
In addition, the seasoned surgeons at SpaMedica boast over 20 years of safe, effective, and reputable experience to draw from. Regardless, please note that all complications are managed and corrected as part of your surgical fee.
While Dr. Bell has not seen most of the risks listed below, these complications have been reported:
Although infections are very rare with respect to liposuction procedures, Dr. Bell and his experienced team still take every precaution to ensure that the surgery is a smooth, seamless experience.
In cases where patients do not obtain the results they were looking for, a follow-up procedure can be scheduled to ensure adequate body contour.
The affected area may feel numb following the surgery, but this side effect is typically temporary.
Following liposuction, the surgeons at SpaMedica may be required to book a follow-up procedure designed to drain pockets of fluid under the skin.
The goal of modern liposuction, as pioneered by Dr. Mulholland, SpaMedica’s former Lead Surgeon, is the use of energy-assisted devices that heat, liquefy, and coagulate the fat just prior to its aspiration and gentle removal.
In May of 2021, after 25 years as Canada’s most recognized Cosmetic Surgeon, Dr. Mulholland retired from active Plastic Surgery Practice. Dr. Mulholland moved to the United States to pursue his work with InMode MD electrosurgical (a company he co-founded) in the United States. His esteemed colleague, Dr. Bell, took over – and will be treating you with his expertise, precision, and care.
Tumescent Liposuction involves injecting a large dose of a local anesthetic solution, with epinephrine and lidocaine, into the fat tissue before performing the tumescent liposuction, which involves removing the fat aspiration with a tube called a cannula via small incisions.
VaserLipo™ (ultrasound energy) involves the release of ultrasonic energy through a small probe and into the fat. The ultrasound waves gently vibrate and implode the fat cell, creating a soft, liquefied substance. Once the ultrasound has liquefied the fat, Dr. Bell uses a very small, blunt-tipped microcannula to gently aspirate and remove the liquefied fat from the unwanted localized areas of excess.
The real advantage of VASERLipo™ is its gentle nature and its ability to preserve the fat for possible fat grafting procedures following liposuction.
Many patients wish to remove fat from the areas of excess localized collection and transplant it to other areas, such as the buttock, with a Brazilian butt lift, fat grafting breast augmentation, and facial fat transplantation. Since the gentle VASER ultrasound energy does use heat and does not kill fat cells, merely loosening them for removal, they remain viable for transplantation.
The weakness of VASERLipo™ is that it does not provide significant soft tissue contraction, so other energy-assisted devices must be used post-VASERLipo™ to ensure the suitability of the skin and soft tissue.
BodyTite™ Lipo (Radiofrequency energy) involves the release of radiofrequency through a small probe and into the fat. The radiofrequency energy melts the fat and coagulates and seals small blood vessels, resulting in a very gentle aspiration and far less bruising and swelling.
The heat from the BodyTite™ is safely released with internal and external sensors, minimizing the risk of overheating. Over 12 months, the soft tissue contraction of 40-50% can lead to better contour and shape. BodyTite has the best-reported safety controls and soft tissue contraction of any technology.
SmartLipo™ (laser energy) uses a small laser probe to emit laser energy directly into the fat before aspiration. This liquefies the fat and closes off tiny blood vessels to minimize bruising. The liquefaction of fat via laser facilitates easy aspiration with a microcannula.
The advantages of SmartLipo™ over VASERLipo™ are that the heat generated will lead to a simultaneous contraction and tightening of the skin, allowing for quality body contouring and skin tightening effects.
SmartLipo™, up to 17% contraction of the treated skin can occur, as well as a 25% improvement in elasticity. SmartLipo™ contraction minimizes the risks of irregularities and laxity. It optimizes the ability of patients to avoid more invasive incisional procedures like tummy tucks, arm lifts, thigh lifts, and neck lifts.
SpaMedica is Canada’s leading non-surgical fat reduction and Coolsculpting centre. What makes SpaMedica Canada’s leader is the deployment of multiple, proven non-surgical lipo technologies; CoolSculpting, SculpSure, Evolve, Vanquish, EMsculpt, BodyFX, Vanquish, Venus Freeze, Excelis and VelaShape 3, to ensure you get a visible and permanent localized reduction of fat, skin tightening and muscle toning.
Most patients at our Toronto clinic understand that no amount of dieting or exercise can reduce unwanted bulges and contours such as the tummy pot, bra lines, love handles, saddlebags, bat wings, and inner thigh or knee fat in such a targeted fashion. As a result, they are extremely pleased with the body contouring results provided by Dr. Bell, who has performed over 5000 breast augments, liposuctions, tummy tucks and other body contouring procedures.
There are various types of liposuction available and how the procedure is performed depends on the areas you want to target, the amount of fat in those areas, and which type of liposuction you choose. For the most part, Dr. Bell performs liposuction by removing liquified fat by inserting a small tube, also known as a cannula, through tiny incisions in the treatment area. Fluid is usually injected first to assist in separating the fat cells and reduce bleeding.
Patients at SpaMedica in Toronto are also particularly satisfied with their liposuction results post fat removal, which ensures the best and tightest shapely figure enhancements.
Most liposuction patients are very comfortable during the procedure under local anesthesia (called tumescent liposuction), oral sedation and laughing gas (nitrous oxide).
IV sedation and even general anesthesia can be requested but are rarely required and only increases the risks of complications.
During the pre-operative consultation, your doctor will review your problem areas and discuss your goals and suggestions. It is best to be realistic in expectations. Dr. Bell will then take you through the procedure and care that should be considered, reviewing your medical history and allergies to avoid adverse effects during and after surgery.
Before you go through with the liposuction procedure, you will need to:
You will also want to pick up these supplies for after your procedure:
Patients can expect a very significant, pleasing result in their contour and shape. These results are long term. The focus of Dr. Bell’s patients should be on improvements in body shape and form rather than on weight. Your reduction will be measured in centimeters, rather than kilograms or pounds. Naturally, since fat is removed, there will be some weight loss, but the focus here is on inches and your contour, not on kilograms and pounds.
Liposuction is often combined with a:
Fat grafting to the buttocks or breasts: Have your curves in all the right places by lifting and firming your buttocks or breasts.
Modern liposuction uses energy-assisted devices to pre-coagulate and liquefy the fat, making it very easy to aspirate—so the procedure’s gentle. In peer-reviewed medical studies, VASERLipo™, SmartLipo™, and BodyTite™ are far less painful and cause far less discomfort, bruising, and swelling post-procedure than old-fashioned liposuction techniques.
After the Smartlipo, BodyTite lipo and/or Vaser Lipo energy is applied, a small suction cannula is used to gently aspirate out the soft, emulsified liquified fat. This cannula can be power-assisted (PAL, MicroAire) or mechanical.
In general, it’s recommended that you only consider liposuction if you’re over the age of 21.
Although there is no actual age limit to liposuction, it is not recommended for elderly patients because of skin laxity issues and general medical conditions.
The results of your liposuction will be lifelong. The fat that is removed will not return. It is essential to maintain your surgical weight after the procedure and stay within 5-10 pounds of your post-liposuction weight to ensure permanent contour and figure enhancements. Excessive weight gain following your procedure will result in fat accumulation, not usually to the treated area, but in other areas where you would not traditionally have collected fat.
Liposuction permanently removes a large number of fat cells and fatty tissue in the improved areas. However, some fat cells remain, which are still responsive to increased caloric intake. Therefore, weight maintenance is recommended following the procedure.
If you gain significant amounts of weight after liposuction (i.e. more than 30 pounds), the excess calories will go to the adipose cells, both in the areas where liposuction was performed and in non-treated zones. This will compromise your contouring results. Therefore, keeping your weight within 5-10 pounds of your post-liposuction surgery weight is recommended to maintain your results properly.
The accepted safe maximum total aspiration volume allowed in the province of Ontario is 5,000 cc or 5L of combined aspiration. Combined means both the fat and lipo tumescent fluid, so 3-4,000 or 3-4L of pure fat. If more fat pockets are removed, a staged procedure can be offered, with more pockets treated 6 weeks after the first procedure.
When less than 2L of fat is removed, SpaMedica lipo patients can usually go home several hours after the procedure. If more than 2L of fat is removed, then it is safer that patients stay overnight, be monitored and take blood-thinning agents to minimize the risk of deep vein clots and lung embolisms.
Repeat or secondary liposuction can be performed occasionally to enhance your contour in the 1-2% of cases where there may be a small amount of residual extra fat or in scenarios where the patient puts on a little weight a few years after their original liposuction.
Yes, a tummy tuck, if indicated, can safely and effectively be performed on the same tummy tissue that had undergone liposuction in the past.
Modern tumescent liposuction is an outpatient procedure and does not require patients to undergo general anesthesia. Instead, a local anesthetic is injected into the treatment area where the excess fatty deposits are located.
The solution causes the skin’s fatty layer to swell and become firm, affording your surgeon better control while contouring the area. It also causes blood vessels to shrink temporarily, significantly reducing blood loss, bruising, swelling, and pain post-procedure. The local anesthetic does not cause nausea or grogginess; most patients are alert and functional afterwards.
CoolSculpting is a non-invasive procedure that can reduce fatty bulges by up to 25% without the risks and downtime associated with liposuction. Each session takes about an hour, and you’ll likely require several sessions spaced a couple of weeks apart. You should see results within several weeks. Liposuction, on the other hand, is an invasive surgery performed under anesthesia.
The surgery takes 1-2 hours, and recovery lasts several days, but you usually only need one session. Your final results may not be noticeable for months, but if you’re aiming for more drastic results, lipo may be the way to go.
In tumescent liposuction–the most commonly performed modern technique–your surgeon injects a solution into the treatment area, making it easier to suction the fat. Then there is ultrasound-assisted liposuction, which harnesses sound wave energy to rupture and liquefy the fat so it can be suctioned out. SmartLipo uses laser energy to melt the fat. All forms of modern liposuction are generally considered safe and effective when performed by an expert surgeon.
Typically, tumescent liposuction is performed, and energy-assisted techniques are used in select instances to achieve the best results. The best liposuction course for you will be determined during your consultation.
After liposuction, it is less likely that you will gain weight in the same area because there are fewer fat cells to expand; however, it’s important to maintain a healthy diet and stay active to avoid post-op weight gain. It’s also worth noting that liposuction is not a weight-loss procedure. Instead, it’s a body contouring procedure that can address problem areas that remain unresponsive to diet and exercise.
While liposuction can quickly get rid of fatty deposits in those problem areas, it can’t remove more than a few pounds of fat. If you’re 30+ pounds over your ideal weight, it would be better to lose more weight before undergoing liposuction.
After liposuction, don’t remain stationary. In the first few days, get up and walk around to reduce the risk of blood clots forming. To reduce your risk of bleeding, avoid taking blood thinners like Ibuprofen, avoid heavy lifting, aerobic activity, or anything that will raise your heart rate and blood pressure for at least a week. Don’t soak in a bath for at least four weeks after surgery, as this can increase your risk of infection.
These are just a few recommendations for optimal healing your doctor will share with you post-op. Be sure to follow all instructions carefully, and you should heal beautifully!
