Facial Liposuction – Costs, Risks And Alternative Solution

In facial liposuction, fat is removed from the lower facial structure to improve facial appearance. Although a person’s body begins to look better with diet and exercise, losing weight does not always affect the face. To remove the bulges along each side of the face and under the chin, liposuction can be performed.

The surgery could last for over three hours, depending on the amount of fat to be removed. General or local anesthesia is used to sedate the patient, and then a large amount of diluted anesthetic is injected into the skin along with some enzymes that will break down the fat.

The solution will make the face swell and give the surgeon more room to insert a vacuuming tube called a cannula between the skin and the underlying tissue. The surgeon uses a sawing motion to move the cannula back and forth under the skin and suck out the fat tissue. The friction from this motion heats up the tube, so an experienced surgeon will take a short break every so often to allow it too cool down.

Depending on job required, most plastic surgeons agree that a facial liposuction or neck liposuction will cost between $2000 and $5000 on the average. Patients are cautioned about going after surgeons who charge less because, in most cases, those doctors lack the expertise or experience to get the job done correctly.

Patients who said that they were unsatisfied with the operation were usually the ones who paid $700 to $1000 for the procedure. Their complaints ranged from experiencing intolerable pain throughout the procedure, to acquiring liver and heart damage after the operation due to fluid retention. Some patients suffered from psychological problems during the recuperation period and others say that the operation failed.

Several cases of skin necrosis were reported whereby the skin died and sloughed off the area operated upon. Other patients described getting seromas which are pockets of yellowish puss under the skin. Incidents of friction burning also happened because the inexperienced surgeons did not know that the tube was getting too hot.

Most reputable surgeons will not recommend aggressive facial liposuction because irregularities caused by the troughs made by the cannula on the fat tend to show up because the procedure cannot be done deep enough under facial skin to hide it. Scarring and bruising will also readily show up from under the thin skin.

If light liposuction cannot achieve the desired effect, the patient is made to think about getting a buccal fat pad incision. Here, the fat under the cheek is surgically scraped off and the skin is repaired discreetly.

A relatively new method of liposuction, which is still being studied, is the use of ultrasound technology. The tool is applied externally thereby effectively minimizing the risk of infections like seroma and skin necrosis. And since this method covers a larger area than the thin cannula tube, no irregularity under the skin is evident. The results on several test subjects have so far been positive and the scientists developing the technology are optimistic about it so far.

The only practical non-surgical alternative for now is the use of facial exercises.  These face exercises have been used for decades by many celebrities, models, and regular people like me and you.

There are some who claim that certain face creams can have a positive effect.  However, these creams only work on the surface and the results are not as readily evident. In most cases, the patient will not realize that the cream is not working until after a long period. Then, the patient has to patiently switch to another brand and wait for results, or lack of it, to show..

One other non-surgical alternative is the use of a shapewear garment. Although many doctors rave about its success, the shapewear garments are designed to be worn on other parts of the body. Unless somebody can come up with a garment that can be worn over the face everyday, this will not stop people from getting a facial liposuction.

• Facial Liposuction Surgery
• Face Liposuction – Costs, Risks And Alternative Solution
• WHAT ARE THE COSTS AND RISKS OF A LIPOSUCTION/LIPOSCULPTURE? WHERE SHOULD I HAVE IT DONE? ARTICLE 5 OF 5