Dr. Nathan Miller is a board certified cosmetic surgeon and owner of the OKC Lipo in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Specializing in all forms of liposuction, Dr. Miller is a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgeons, American Medical Association, Texas Medical Association, and a prospective member of the American College of Surgeons. In this article, he tells us about the new advances in anesthesia during liposuction procedures.
Many people don’t realize this, but there is actually no longer the need to be put asleep under a general anesthesia in order to undergo a liposuction procedure. What I do instead here at OKC Lipo is perform procedures under a local anesthetic—allowing patients to stay awake during the procedure without feeling any pain.
The way this works is that I don’t have to use an IV like some other doctors might, those who still use a general anesthetic. What I do instead is make a pinprick incision in the skin and inject what is basically a numbing medicine—it is similar to when you go to the dentist and get the numbing agent put into your gums. What I am using is similar and in that same medicine family.
So rather than putting someone all the way to sleep, I prepare the numbing solution and I let that solution flow underneath the patient’s skin to completely numb everything in the area where we are going to be working. And once that has been done, I will then let that numbing medication sit for about 20 minutes before going ahead. After that 20 minutes has gone by and the medicine has set in, patients don’t mind a thing.
This kind of anesthetic technique has really been popularized out West and it has also become extremely popular for physicians back East. But no doctors in the Midwest have really been doing this technique or concentrating on using this form of anesthetic just yet. And because of this, it has really been a challenge—possibly the most difficult thing—to educate patients and the public about the treatment method. But I promise you, this new technique is really true and effective, and it really does work.
One of the other cool things about doing my liposuction procedures like this, too, is that it really gives me a chance to get to know my patients. I really enjoy learning about my patients and getting to know them, and when I do liposuction like this, I’ll be there for an hour just talking with my parents—I get to find out about their family and find out a little more about them. It’s pretty cool. I even have some people who will sit there during the procedure with their Blackberry out and check emails the whole time. So this new anesthetic treatment method gives people that option.
After finishing up the procedure, patients are free to go home to recover. Usually, the numbing medicine will wear off in six to eight hours, and patients are back to normal. The recovery process for patients is really so much better than when compared to going under general anesthesia, where you are waking up and feeling drunk for hours or days. We are able to do these procedures without putting people under all these powerful drugs, and that is a good thing in a lot of ways.
It is just amazing the way that medicine and specifically cosmetic surgery in general is moving, and this new type of anesthetic is just another example of all the progress we are making in the field to help the procedures go as seamlessly and smoothly as possible.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
