SmartLipo
Do you have stubborn pockets of fat that have been unresponsive to even your best diet and exercise efforts? You can improve your contours with SmartLipo Triplex™, an advancement on traditional liposuction that uses laser energy with liposuction to help remove excess fat and tighten your skin in one exciting procedure. Moreover, the recovery time is generally shorter. Dr. Arnold Breitbart has found SmartLipo to be highly effective for recontouring many areas of the body (including the abdomen, arms, thighs, neck, and back) and helping his patients to finally achieve the contours they’ve worked so hard to attain. Read on to learn why SmartLipo is one of Dr. Breitbart’s most popular procedures.
Before
After
How SmartLipo Works
What differentiates SmartLipo from traditional liposuction is the addition of laser energy. By using a laser to soften and melt the fat, Dr. Breitbart can more easily and completely suction the fat with the liposuction cannula.. Furthermore, this heat is useful in stimulating collagen production to achieve better skin tightening than traditional liposuction.
Because it is gentler in nature, Dr. Breitbart can typically use local anesthesia to keep you comfortable and awake during the surgery. Occasionally sedation anesthesia may be indicated. The duration of the procedure depends on the number and size of the areas treated with SmartLipo. It usually takes about one hour or less per treatment area.
Are You a Candidate for SmartLipo?
The ideal candidate for SmartLipo is a person in good overall health who has a stable weight but has struggled to eliminate stubborn pockets of fat in trouble areas with diet and exercise. Patients who are quite further away from their goal weight should postpone SmartLipo since it is not a weight loss procedure. Dr. Breitbart can confirm your candidacy and help set expectations for the treatment during a consultation.
SmartLipo Benefits
SmartLipo offers many advantages to patients, including the following:
- Targets stubborn fat deposits that are resistant to weight loss
- Tightens skin to better correspond with your new contours
- Less painful than other fat-reduction procedures
- Reduces cellulite, bruises, and stretch marks on treatment areas
- Limits recovery time so you can resume your normal routine sooner
- Produces indefinite results by permanently eliminating fat cells
SmartLipo Recovery Timeline
When Dr. Breitbart uses SmartLipo to contour his patients’ bodies, their recovery is significantly shorter, with less bruising, swelling, and discomfort than they would experience with traditional liposuction. Typically, you need a day or two of rest and relaxation after your surgery before you feel well enough to return to work. You may take pain medication during this time to manage any lingering discomfort. Most patients can reintroduce strenuous physical activity like exercise back into their routine within a few days after surgery
After the swelling subsides, you will start seeing your results within weeks. These results will improve in the coming months as collagen production further tightens your skin to reveal even better contours. Complete resolution of swelling can take at least 6 months.
SmartLipo FAQs
By using a laser, skin tightening can be accomplished to a better degree than with traditional liposuction. Furthermore, since the laser coagulates loose ends of the small blood vessels as it melts the fat, there is less bruising than with traditional liposuction, as well as less swelling and a quicker recovery time. Dr. Breitbart uses the latest SmartLipo Triplex™ device to deliver superior results.
SmartLipo™ can be used to treat all areas of the body for which liposuction is indicated, and is particularly advantageous in treating areas with some skin looseness, such as the abdomen, thighs, upper arms, love handles, and neck.
SmartLipo™ is primarily suited for liposuction to improve the body contour with some skin tightening. In addition to SmartLipo™, Dr. Breitbart also offers Cellulaze™, the revolutionary first and only cellulite laser treatment that treats the actual causes of cellulite under the skin, to deliver proven long-lasting results in one treatment. SmartLipo™ and Cellulaze™ treatments can be performed together or separately, as indicated.
For most patients, local anesthesia alone can be used. This can be supplemented with sedation anesthesia being given by a board certified anesthesiologist if the patient desires.
All procedures are performed by Dr. Breitbart in his office surgery center, which is certified by the American Association for the Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilites (AAAASF).
Most patients require just one SmartLipo Triplex™ treatment, which takes approximately thirty minutes to one hour per area. If you have several parts of your body with stubborn fat you'd like to treat with laser liposuction, Dr. Breitbart may recommend separate procedures, but that is rare. Dr. Breitbart can typically address your problem areas with a single surgery. Patients with unsatisfactory results from another type of liposuction with a different surgeon may benefit from a touch-up or revision with SmartLipo Triplex™.
You may be asked to quit smoking. That's because tobacco use affects the healing process and may complicate your liposuction procedure and increase some risks. Some medications can also increase complications, so you may need to discontinue a prescription drug, herbal supplement, or vitamin. You should avoid alcohol use for one or more weeks before your SmartLipo Triplex™ procedure and drink plenty of water.
Shower or bathe before your surgery and arrive clean with no topical creams or lotions. Wear comfortable clothing to accommodate post-operative recovery garments. Line up someone to drive you home and prepare your loved ones and your home for recovery.
Dr. Breitbart will provide pre-operative instructions. Make sure you follow these directions to ensure a safe and effective SmartLipo Triplex™ procedure.
You'll notice a slimmer contour in the treated area soon after laser liposuction, but there is swelling that takes some time to resolve. Most of the swelling resolves within one to two months but can take at least six months for complete resolution of swelling. Likewise, the skin-tightening benefits of SmartLipo Triplex™ will also take a few months. SmartLipo technology works to soften and melt the fat, to allow the liposuction portion of the procedure to work more effectively. Because the fat is first treated with the laser, it suctions out more completely, evenly, and gently. The laser also tightens skin tissues through collagen production. Collagen is the "fountain of youth" protein that your body produces less and less of as you get older, causing thinning skin, creases, and wrinkles. SmartLipo pushes your body to create more collagen, but it takes time for production to amp up and provide firmer, more youthful skin.
SmartLipo Triplex™ works with the subdermal tissues, and the laser heat causes the overlying skin to shrink and tighten around the slimmer contour. You may notice some improvement in skin laxity after SmartLipo, but your full skin-tightening results may take weeks or months.
SmartLipo Triplex™ and other types of liposuction permanently remove fat cells. The human body does not create new fat cells, so the existing cells expand when you gain weight. The treated body part retains some fat cells, which may get larger. However, future weight gain will affect the untreated areas first. SmartLipo patients must commit to a healthy lifestyle with good nutrition and regular exercise to maintain their results.
SmartLipo Triplex™ works to eliminate fat by destroying the fat cells and suctioning them out of the body with a surgical vacuum or syringe. Fat transfer procedures for the face, breasts, and buttocks require intact fat cells for good results. Successful fat grafting requires good-quality fat cells for optimal fat survival in the transferred area. SmartLipo Triplex™ would impact the quantity and quality of the harvested fat and is not a good option for patients who wish to reintroduce the removed fat cells into another body area. In fat transfer procedures, Dr. Breitbart first performs standard tumescent liposuction to remove adequate fat to then be transferred. He then completes the liposuction treatment areas with SmartLipo in order to achieve the best liposuction result.
It is possible to perform SmartLipo in the area after fat is harvested for these procedures. During your consultation, discuss your desires for liposuction and fat transfer with Dr. Breitbart to find a solution that works for your cosmetic goals.