Show - Liposuction has become the most commonly used cosmetic surgery procedure houlId ItoBY T dr v t- STERN CARYL JENNIE VENNER A HAIR-styli- st from Virginia Beach Va had spent years working out in a gym and "starving herself" She had brought her weight down to a trim 95 pounds but nothing could rid her of the embarrassing bulges along her hips and thighs "Saddlebags run in my family" she says "Mine were like battleships" Eleven years a Venner then 26 decided to take a chance on a new medical procedure called liposuction It was just being introduced in the United States as a way to vacuum away excess fat without the scarring of plastic surgery Venner's surgeon removed about four pounds of fat in one day She spent the next 48 hours in bed with her legs up then returned to work Venner's saddlebags have never returned she says even while she was gaining 37 pounds during pregnancy More than a million Americans have undergone liposuction says Dr Peter Bela Fodor former president of the Lipoplasty So- ciety of North America making it the most com- couldn't even wear "I says Donald Altieri 36 shown below when he suffered from obesity and a large breast condition called gynecomastia In 1992 he decided to undergo liposuction Lf - 1 c1 '" - :1 4: i ' ' t t: t - r4 - I I sorgery Right: Altieri : after the V medical ' 1 procedure I -- - It I i Newton-W- - I ‘ ' - i'4 I -- - '' Cs - - - - ' ''' ' i ) t' i - $ t - - -- -7- ' - ' - -- - - - 4 - 12' t black-and-bl- ' 2- - - - ' - - - - ' - - ''' - - 4 toror sh: z4t1: ‘ t- - - s - 1 f0 years ago Aveni decided to do something about it The plastic surgeon suggested a tummy tuck (excess fat and skin are removed from the abdomen and the muscle of the abdominal wall is tightened) but her insurance didn't cover it Liposuction wasn't covered either but it was much less expensive—so Aveni had her double chin fixed as well But there was a price to pay--i- n pain "It was like I got hit with a Mack truck" Aveni recalls "My whole torso got black and blue So did my face around the chin" The pain lasted seven days she marks dissays and the appeared in 12 weeks The amount of pain a patient feels depends on the size and sensitivity of the area suctioned According to the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive !Surgeons the average fee for a single liposuction procedure in 1990 was $14801(the latest figure that was available) Another change has been the increase in males having liposuction In 1990 they represented 10 percent of the 7 z - - - - '- 1' - ' - - '"'"' 1 ‘ "III A - ''' -- r t- "::' ''--- ' - t I ''''' t 4 ' ':l' -- li - : t '1- ' ' E 7 -' ' ! 1":4 ' if s ' - - J' I and minimal scarring But liposuction is not for It cannot correct everyone obesity as many people once assumed And its popularity says Dr Eugene Courtiss chief of plastic surgery at the Hospital in Massachusetts has attracted many physicians who lack surgical training "Anyone with an MD can advertise himself as an expert in liposuction" says Dr Courtiss "They do it for one simple reason: money" Particularly in the hands of the untrained liposuction carries serious risks Nerves may be cut resulting in permanent numbness The removal of too much fat at one time can put a patient in shock And when fat is removed unevenly the surface may be left covered with unsightly ridges All of which makes it vital that prospective patients find propd erly trained surgeons Eleven years ago liposuction was pretty much limited to hips thighs and bellies and to women in their 20s and 30s But new surgical techniques and instruments have made it possible to use the ' I i 14' - - ‘ if ? I -- - - - - '- 't - rt-‘- 4- o - ' - 1- 1 o ' ' er spectrum ofpatients !' -- Alone or in conjunction with traditional cosmetic surgery it is routinely used for facelifts breast reduction and fat removal from knees and ankles And patients today include many women in their 50s and 60s as well as men of all ages It is even used to treat children born with disfiguring fat deposits Liposuction is based on the fact that we are all born with a given number of fat cells "When we gain weight" says Dr Fodor a plastic surgeon in Santa Monica Calif "we don't produce more fat cells—the ones we have get larger" The problem comes when too many fat cells are genetically deposited in a specific area "Once liposuction removes these excess cells they don't return" says Fodor ' A 4 -- " t- ' 4' - ' 4 ' ' - i 'i 7- 11 A - k 7 - :1:16- 1 ASPRS More and more men are seeking breast reduction says Dr Richard Mladick who was Jennie Venner's surgeon Enlargement of the male breast known as gynecomastia cantbe caused obesity but also by substances like by steroids and rThis old woman marijuana had liposuction Seven years 62-yea- - Surgeons now remove double chins and give cheeks a smooth new look "Liposuction has revolutionized facial sculptu- sistant professor of surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York 0 - procedure all over the body and to treat a much broad- ring" says Dr Michelle Copeland an as- '' - ue patients treated by members of the ' u 3r? Sally Aveni ' 41 ' is an office manager in Austin Tex "1 gained a lot of weight before 1 had my daughter" she Six says "Everything started sag a !: " '''-- ' V - : I 11 Iw t ' -- j ' ' t Ait L )1 - ' 4 i- - -- - w ' I ''' - "4 1 4 1 ': - -- ' i t-1- - - -- pee 'k "t ' t i'4 i 1 't : ''' 4 ''"'s 7 á ? : elowV: - t ' 1 ' - - N 4 :- - --:- - Se °- - -- r:- -' ''''t ' ' - 1 ' 441— 4 i I i - :tot ''' - I ' V " ' - li - : - I 1 't '' ' s te:----- t ! i f A - --- - I - ! ' - i - -: i t 7 : 1 0 e" I - t i ) - surgery it offers lower cost briefer recuperation board-certifie- N1 eir tight shirts" monly used cosmetic surgery procedure Compared to traditional cosmetic ellesley 4 k4 1 e 1 -- 1 1 1 ' secwmrvi ' r ago Donald Altieri then 291lost 150 of tnetehes his 320 pounds through diet and' exercise But that left patients were women in their 20s and 30s 4 him with folds of extra skin - During liposuction surgery a small incision is made and a blunt-tipptube is inserted This tube called a cannula is attached at one end to a vacuum pump The surgeon manipulates the other end under the skin pushing aside nerves and blood vessels and loosening fat cells so they can be drawn out by the pump The removal of the fat cells leaves a series of tunnels creating a kind of honeycomb effect After the operation an elastic bandage provicks the gentle pressure needed to help collapse the tunnels' walls As the tunnels fill in the bulges shrink and the skin shrinks with them ed and gynecomastia "I couldn't even wear tight shirts" says Alfieri a real estate developer in Ridgefield Conn Last year he decided "to finish the job" and had a combination of traditional surgery and liposuction After the excess fat in his breasts was removed tight shirts were no longer a problem Di For a list offive doctors in your area who are certed by the American Board of Plastic Surgery write: Plastic Surgery Information Service of ASPRS Dept P 444 E Algonquin Road Arlington Heights Ill 60005 : PAGE 16 JULY 111993 : 40Eomipeodeg PARADE MAGAZINE |