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 answers the one question on every patient’s mind—safety.
Definitely, one of the biggest things people ask about when they are coming in for liposuction is the risk that is involved. But I can definitely say that liposuction is safe—especially in an office like OKC Lipo where we use conscious sedation rather than a general anesthetic that would put the patient completely under.
As a physician, one of the biggest things I can do to make the liposuction procedure safe is to pick the correct patients. Surgeons shouldn’t be agreeing to perform procedures on anyone who is risky whatsoever. So as a doctor, you want to be picking patients who are medically stable, and those who are relatively healthy. Just doing that alone, making sure you have patients who are going to thrive, is an important step in terms of safety.
One of the biggest things patients can do, in terms of looking out for their own safety, is finding a doctor who they believe in and trust. A lot of doctors out there promise wild things, but patients need to find someone who they can talk openly with about their goals for the procedure, and someone who is going to be honest and realistic with them about what outcome they can really expect. Usually, making a consultation with a couple doctors is the best way to find the physician who is the best fit for you, specifically.
Like I said before, another way that we make liposuction especially safe here at OKC Lipo is by using what is called conscious sedation. We are doing these liposuction procedures without any general anesthetic drugs, which means that patients are able to remain awake during the procedure. In fact, some patients choose to read their emails or check their Blackberry while the procedure is going on, and for others, I like to just talk to them and find out about their families during the liposuction itself. So the fact that we are able to do all these great liposuction procedures without knocking patients out and putting them under general anesthesia makes what we are doing here an even safer option for patients.
The truth of the matter is, a lot of these horror stories that circulate about liposuction really have nothing to do with normal situations. A lot of these stories involve people who are taking crazy drugs regimens and dealing with unlicensed doctors. Or, they are trying to take off too much fat rather than going with a doctor who is willing to tell them honestly what they are going to be able to safely accomplish—like I mentioned before. Or, even in some cases, these horror stories happened because a doctor did not properly work up a patient before the surgery. There can be any number of factors, but what is important to take out of it is that these are not things that are going on at quality practices where safety is a top priority.
When it comes to making sure you are going to be safe during a liposuction procedure, it is really just about being smart. Patients have got to be smart about it when they are choosing the doctor who is going to treat them. And at the same time, physicians need to be smart about it, as well. They need to be choosing patients who are healthy and stable enough to do well in a liposuction.
Some type of risk is in every single procedure that is out there, cosmetic or otherwise. But when you are talking about liposuction specifically, as long as those safety mechanism are in place and everyone is comfortable with what is going on, I can confidently say that liposuction is a safe and highly effective procedure.
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.
