Do I Need Hi-Def Liposculpture or a Tummy Tuck?

Top body contouring procedures, abdominoplasty, liposuction, and VASER® 4D Hi-Def liposculpture all treat the body of excess fat and create a trim result, but full results are more nuanced and are ideal for different candidates. This blog discusses the surgical steps, candidates, and results of each.

Which Body Contouring Procedure Is Best for Me?

A slim, toned midsection is widely considered an aesthetic ideal for men and women alike—it’s also notoriously difficult to achieve with diet and exercise alone, especially if you have factors like genetics and diastasis recti working against you. 

If you’re thinking about cosmetic surgery to help you reach your body contouring goals, you’ve got quite a few options. Abdominoplasty, liposuction, and VASER® 4D Hi-Def liposculpting are all used to tone and trim the body, but they do very different things. 

These three procedures do treat the midsection but are ideal for a select group of patients—it might be helpful to think about them in terms of the level of revision they can provide. In order of most revision to least, it goes abdominoplasty (can help with the most severe issues), liposuction (sort of middling concerns, is versatile), and then VASER® 4D Hi-Def liposculpture (best for refining). So which is best for you? Well, it depends on your physical concerns and your goals. We’ll discuss the differences between these options and who may be a candidate for each below.

What Does a Tummy Tuck Treat?

Abdominoplasty, or a tummy tuck, is one of the most popular and transformative body contouring procedures. It can help post-massive weight loss patients, postpartum patients, those with diastasis recti (separated abdominal muscles), and more. It’s the only procedure on our list that treats loose skin—which is impossible to treat without surgery. 

In short, abdominoplasty is an amazing procedure. A general tummy tuck procedure may look like this: 

• The surgeon makes a horizontal incision across the lower abdomen (the bikini line) and around the belly button (if needed).
• Through the incision, the surgeon lifts the skin and surgically tightens loose abdominal muscles.
• The tissues and skin are redraped, including the belly button.
• Excess skin is tightened and trimmed away.

Tummy tucks are ideal for patients with moderate to severe loose skin, sagging tissues, and loose abdominals. Usually, patients seeking a tummy tuck have had their midsections stretched due to obesity or pregnancy and cannot trim their stomachs through diet and exercise. 

Recovery from a tummy tuck can be quite long, as repairing abdominal muscles takes time, during which you won’t be able to stand or lay down fully straight until they heal a little more. The scar can also be long, so you’ll have to care for it with scar treatments and avoid sun exposure. 

Who Should Get a Tummy Tuck?

Patients whose primary concerns are loose, sagging skin, separated abdominal muscles, and sagging tissue that doesn’t respond to diet and exercise. Tummy tucks are transformational, but they are serious procedures and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Patients who undergo tummy tucks should be in good health and are not looking for a weight loss option—tummy tucks are ideal for post-weight loss, as that’s when loose skin begins to become more prominent.

What Does Liposuction Treat?

Liposuction remains the most popular plastic surgery procedure, in part because it’s just so versatile. Your plastic surgeon can treat nearly any area of your body with liposuction, including the hips, thighs, buttocks, back, arms, neck, chin, abdomen, and more. As we age, we start to carry stubborn pockets of fat that just won’t budge no matter our best efforts—that’s the ideal treatment for liposuction. It’s not a weight loss solution; it’s more of a “spot treatment” for those stubborn areas. It’s also used in tandem with other procedures, including tummy tucks, to refine and contour results.

A general liposuction procedure may look like this: 

• Your surgeon will inject the treatment area with a special tumescent fluid that primes the fat cells and tissues for extraction.
• Through small incisions around the treatment area (say, thighs), your surgeon will insert a long, thin tube called a cannula.
• Fat will be suctioned out through the cannula; they will move the cannula back and forth to create a natural contour—a talented body contouring surgeon will be able to hide where your treatment area ends, and the natural tissue begins.
• Once they are satisfied, they will remove the cannula and close the incisions with sutures.

Recovery from liposuction is relatively mild, depending on the size and location of the treatment area. After fat loss, patients will have to wear a compression garment to keep the skin taut and help it restrict. 

Who Should Get Liposuction?

Patients with good skin elasticity who are close to their goal weight with some pockets of fat and those who want to refine and contour the body are good candidates. Unlike tummy tucks, the skin is not tightened during liposuction, which is why it’s important for patients to have good skin elasticity, or they may be left with sagging skin. Liposuction is also successfully paired with tummy tucks for a more cohesive result.

What Does VASER® 4D Hi-Def Liposculpture Treat?

VASER® 4D Hi-Def Liposculpture, or liposculpting, takes liposuction to another level. This procedure is only ideal for patients with very little fat on their body, but who are struggling to lose that last layer of fat and achieve visible musculatures, such as a six-pack or an abdominal V. Rather than just removing fat as with liposuction, liposculpture involves carefully removing layers of fat and reinserting it in layers to create a chiseled contour and highlight the angles of muscles. 

A liposculpture surgery may look like the following: 

• The surgeon will follow a similar protocol as liposuction, making small incisions around the treatment area (abdomen, back, flanks, or thighs).
• They will remove fat in precise areas to create ridges and hollows like that of muscles, essentially “drawing” a six-pack or other muscle group.
• They will then replace fat using fat transfer to highlight the angles more.

As you can see, this is a very specialized procedure that should only be performed by a body contouring specialist for natural-looking results. The end result is certainly amazing, however.

Who Should Get VASER® 4D Hi-Def Liposculpture?

This procedure is ideal for patients who are relatively happy with their physique but may have a small layer of fat or a lack of muscle definition that they can’t acquire through exercise. VASER® 4D Hi-Def liposculpture patients are looking for that “wow” factor, the refining result that takes their physique to the next level. 

Ready to Reach Your Body Contouring Goals in El Paso, TX?

The best way to determine which procedure will get you the body of your dreams is to schedule a consultation with our body contouring and liposculpture specialist, Dr. Marco A. Gonzalez. Call Dr. G Plastic Surgery today at (915) 600-2639 or fill out our contact form to get started.