In today’s world of modern medicine the procedure known as liposuction has become common place. But it hasn’t always been that way. In fact the traditional methods of liposuction, or body contouring and the removal of excess body fat date back to as early as the 1920’s.
But it wasn’t until 1982 that the modern liposuction as we know today burst on to the scene. The French physician, Dr. Yves-Gerard Illouz, presented the "Illouz Method." Dr. Illouz’s method injected a sterile fluid known as lidocane into fatty tissue, thus making it more malleable and then using a surgical cannula and a high volume suction device to remove the fat.
Following the presentation and several medical journal articles the procedure found its way to the United States where several physicians experimented with the procedure. It was from these experiments that several variations emerged.
By 1985 the traditional liposuction procedure had gained acceptance within the medical community as a medically sanctioned intervention for the reduction of body fat and contouring of the areas where the fat was removed. As the process of liposuction was used more and more the problems related to its use were addressed and reduced.
It was during the 1990’s that the use of ultra sound was introduced as another way of performing the procedure. The use of high powered sound waves to break down the fatty tissue was a significant step toward making liposuction both safer and less intrusive.
The result of 30 years of advancement in the field of liposuction has meant that more fatty material can now be removed while reducing blood loss, discomfort, and risk for the average patient. In fact, one of the more significant outcomes for this procedure is what has become known as autologous fat transfer, or the reintroduction of removed body fat into other areas of the body where body contouring is wanted.
Great strides have been made around this procedure. In fact, with the introduction of Smart Lipo what can be best described as a revolution in how traditional liposuction is done today. Smart Lipo shares some similarities with the more traditional liposuction procedures, but the cannula used is much narrower, allowing for smaller incisions and less scaring. This cannula contains laser inside it which emits energy into the targeted fat cells thus breaking them down. Without their cell walls to separate them, the fat takes on a liquid consistency, being easily suctioned from the body.
One more significant advantage to Smart Lipo over traditional liposuction is that the energy emitted from the laser also heats up the layers of surrounding skin, which then produces a firming and tightening of the area.
