 Facial Liposuction
What is Facial Liposuction Plastic Surgery?
Facial liposuction (facial lipoplasty) is a plastic surgery technique that is used to vacuum fatty deposits from the cheeks, chin, neck or jaw line. It is particularly effective for removing jowls or a double chin. In essence, facial liposuction can help remove fat from the face in those areas that do not respond to weight loss through diet or exercise. As the intention of facial liposuction is to re-sculpt the face so it has a more structured appearance it is often also called facial contouring.
Before the invention of liposuction and ultrasound therapies, the
plastic surgery procedures for the face were very invasive and painful.
The plastic surgeons often manually removed fat through long incisions made
beneath the chin, behind the ears or in the temples. Nowadays facial contouring
is mainly done using liposuction. In facial liposuction, the facelift is done only by shedding excess fat. The Inside of Facial Liposuction
To understand what is involved facial body contouring, you need to know a little bit about liposuction (also sometimes referred to as lipoplasty). An incision is made on the appropriate area on the face and the area beneath the skin is flushed out with lidocaine (a local anesthetic), saline (salt water) and epinephrine (a drug that narrows blood vessels and prevents bleeding during surgery). Then fatty tissue (known as fascia) is suctioned out from beneath the skin’s surface with a wand that resembles a small vacuum hose. This hose is called the cannula. Depending on how large the area is to be vacuumed by the cannula, the patient may have skin removed or “pulled up” by surgery and secured by surgical stitches. Benefits of Facial Liposuction
Perhaps the best thing about facial liposuction is that the results are permanent, even if you do gain weight. As fat cells are removed, the additional weight will be carried by the fat cells that you have remaining thus reducing the look of jowls or a double chin. The idea in general is to use liposuction to give Mother Nature less to work with if you do decide to gain weight. This leads to a tauter, more attractive appearance even if your face does become fuller over time.
Types of Facial Liposuctions
There are basically four types of liposuction facial surgery that are used for facial contouring:
- Dry facial liposuction
- Wet facial liposuction
- Superwet facial liposuction
- Ultrasound facial liposuction
During the dry technique, the body is not flushed out with fluids and the fat is simply removed from the tissues by prodding the cannula through incisions. Some plastic surgeons recommend this more old fashioned technique to patients with a history of heart problems, fluid in the lungs or edema as it is less traumatic.
Wet liposuction involves the injection of a fluid that contains blood-inhibiting compounds. Superwet liposuction is generally used on individuals who are having facial contouring and a face-lift done at the same time. The theory is that the wetter the liposuction is, the less likely incisions are to bleed or become infected. The cannula is inserted through a tiny incision placed in an inconspicuous location on the face or neck. Using a suction syringe or pump attached to the cannula, the fat cells are extracted.
Ultrasound facial body contouring is a modified version of the superwet liposuction. After the tissues are saturated with saline, epinephrine and lidocaine a special type of cannula that vibrates at a high frequency is inserted under the skin and used to liquefy the fat before it is removed. This speeds up the procedure immensely.
Risks & Side Effects of Facial Liposuction Surgery
Before you decide to have any of these procedures you should be aware that there is a potential for side effects. Dry liposuction poses a greater risk of “bleeding out”, bruising and cell death due to the lack of a bath of protective saline and other fluids.
Superwet liposuction carries the danger of having the patient drown in bodily fluids and supplementary fluids if they are not drained by the body fast enough. Too much fluid stresses the heart and lungs and there is such a thing as “drowning” in your own bodily fluids if these liquids cannot be eliminated fast enough. Fluid that doesn’t drain can also cause pockets of infection. Also, the excess water can make your face look puffy and bloated for several weeks after the surgery until the excess fluid has been absorbed and eliminated by the body.
Ultrasound facial contouring is a combination of liposuction and laser therapy and is relatively new procedure. It employs the use of ultrasound wands and cannulas that are very hot, so there is also the risk of severe burns if the wand is not handled correctly by the plastic surgeon.
Other risks that are associated with all three types of surgery are infection, necrotizing fascitis, embolisms, cardiac arrhythmia, edema, deadening of the nerves, puncture wounds and of course scarring.
Before you get liposuction you also need to consider that the length of time that it can take an individual to recover from liposuction really does vary from person to person. The average recovery rate is about three days, but make sure that you have time off from your work for at least ten days in case you do not heal quickly or suffer disorienting effects from the potent pain medications that are often given to treat post-operative pain.
Your best approach to avoid these side effects is to choose a plastic surgeon that is well accredited and trained in the use of facial liposuction cannulas and ultrasound equipment.
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