What Is SmartLipo?

You swap lousy eating habits for healthier ones and dedicate lots of time to daily exercise, but you still don’t have the body of your dreams.

This routine is a common problem among folks trying to achieve their dream bodies. Unfortunately, even after strict diet and exercise, many people still have problem areas where they can’t seem to lose fat. One popular option for conquering this problem is SmartLipo.

SmartLipo, or lipolysis, is a liposuction method for removing unwanted, stubborn fat deposits around the body. Unlike traditional liposuction, which removes fat from the body using a cannula and suctioning mechanism, SmartLipo first uses lasers to melt the fat, making it easier to remove.

How Does SmartLipo Differ from Regular Liposuction?

Traditional liposuction procedures focus on one removal method to rid the body of excess fat–suction. A regular liposuction procedure involves general anesthesia.

Once the patient is sedated, the cosmetic surgeon makes incisions on the stubborn fat areas of the body.

Next, a cannula with suction is inserted into the incisions, and the unwanted fat is “sucked away,” making the body appear slimmer in the treated areas.

SmartLipo still depends on suction to remove fat, but the procedure is more advanced. Before the fat is suctioned out of the body, it is treated with laser technology to heat and melt the fat under the skin’s surface.

These lasers are hot enough to melt fat without damaging any nerves or blood vessels found in the treatment areas.

Once the fat is heated and melted, the cosmetic surgeon uses a cannula to suction away the melted fat. The heat from the laser also stimulates collagen production.

Collagen is a protein responsible for tightness and elasticity in the skin.

Unlike traditional liposuction, SmartLipo’s heating element melts and removes fat more efficiently and provides a tightening collagen boost for the skin.

Where Does Someone Go for a SmartLipo Procedure?

Licensed cosmetic surgeons must perform SmartLipo procedures. While SmartLipo is minimally invasive, it is still a medical procedure that is best left to a trained professional.

When searching for SmartLipo professionals in your area, ensure that you’re comparing clinics that are licensed, certified, and staffed with trained medical professionals.

SmartLipo procedures are outpatient.

Typically, you would visit a cosmetic surgery clinic to consult with the cosmetic surgeon. After discussing your options and determining if the procedure is the right choice for your needs, the surgeon would schedule your actual surgery day.

Since SmartLipo is an outpatient procedure, you would likely have the same cosmetic surgery clinic procedure.

How Do You Determine if SmartLipo Is Right for Your Needs?

Some cosmetic procedures aren’t a good fit for everyone. Consulting directly with a cosmetic surgeon is the best way to determine if SmartLipo will help you achieve your body image goals.

However, there are some key factors to consider about SmartLipo while you consider different options:

SmartLipo is ideal for people who don’t want to go under general anesthesia.

Since SmartLipo only requires a local anesthetic, a patient wouldn’t have to be put to sleep for the procedure.

If you’re interested in shortening your recovery time and avoiding the adverse effects general anesthesia can cause some folks to experience, SmartLipo might be the best option for you.

For a SmartLipo procedure, you’d go under a local anesthetic to numb the area before the cosmetic surgeon began the fat melting process.

While you wouldn’t feel anything and would be able to recover quickly at home, you would be awake during the procedure.

SmartLipo is ideal for people who are already getting regular exercise and eating healthily.

Any liposuction procedure, including SmartLipo, isn’t a permanent solution for people who aren’t already committed (or willing to commit) to major lifestyle changes.

Healthy eating and regular exercise are essential for keeping new fat deposits from forming.

If lifestyle changes aren’t made, the effects of the SmartLipo procedure won’t matter once new fatty deposits develop.

SmartLipo is ideal for people who have small, stubborn pockets of fat.

Even after plenty of regular exercises, weight loss, and dietary changes, many people still experience fatty deposits that never seem to disappear.

SmartLipo is excellent for these kinds of small problem areas. For example, if you struggle with a muffin top, SmartLipo could be an ideal method for removing it.

SmartLipo is ideal for people who are less than 20% overweight.

If you are seeking to lose a major amount of weight or are considered obese, SmartLipo is not the right procedure for your needs.

Liposuction is not a weight-loss procedure; it is considered cosmetic surgery for sculpting the body.

SmartLipo could be an option for someone after losing a significant amount of weight.

But unfortunately, after significant weight loss, some people discover that they still have stubborn pockets of fat that won’t seem to go away, no matter how carefully they maintain regular exercise and healthy eating.

SmartLipo is ideal for people who generally maintain the same weight.

Everyone’s weight fluctuates up and down over time. However, these fluctuations are usually insignificant and related to hormones, salt intake, and hydration.

So, if your weight generally stays the same with only minor fluctuations, SmartLipo is a good option for you.

f you are a chronic dieter or experience extreme weight fluctuations, SmartLipo likely isn’t the right procedure for your body image goals.

For example, if you follow a diet carefully and lose a significant amount of weight, get SmartLipo, and then ditch the diet afterward, you’ll likely gain that lost weight back again.

At this point, any positive effects from the SmartLipo procedure are negated.

What Are Some Alternatives to SmartLipo?

Cosmetic procedures like SmartLipo aren’t ideal for everyone. However, if you’re interested in changing your body’s appearance through fat loss, there are other methods you can try.

If you are significantly overweight or obese, consider:

Consulting a registered dietician to build a healthy eating plan; changing dietary habits will have significant and lasting weight loss effects for the overweight or obese
Consulting a weight loss surgeon, if you are interested in a surgical option suitable for the overweight or obese

If your weight is relatively stable or you’re interested in attacking small, stubborn problem areas, consider:

CoolSculpting (also known as cryolipolysis), a non-surgical procedure that freezes fat cells from the skin’s surface, causing them to break down inside the body painlessly
truSculpt and BodyTite, two non-surgical procedures that harness the power of radio frequencies to break down fat cells inside the body
SculpSure, a non-surgical procedure that, like SmartLipo, also uses lasers to break down fat cells. Unlike SmartLipo, this option is performed outside the skin.

Final Thoughts: SmartLipo is an excellent option for folks looking to improve the appearance of small, stubborn fatty areas around their bodies.

Unfortunately, it isn’t a recommended ideal nor long-term solution for people looking for serious weight loss results.

Instead, SmartLipo (and any other cosmetic surgery for fat loss) should be viewed as a part of a much larger self-improvement journey.

For example, someone who alters their lifestyle dramatically and makes permanent changes to the way they eat and exercise might consider SmartLipo as a final push to get them toward their ultimate body image goals.