What is Traditional or Dry Liposuction?


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Traditional liposuction, also known as dry liposuction was first discovered in the 1970' s. The technique requires a general anaesthetic as it is traumatic to the body and can cause excessive blood loss. The traditional technique is no longer used due to the complications it can cause.

Traditional or Dry Liposuction Procedure

During a traditional or dry liposuction, you would have been put under a general anaesthetic so that you were not awake and did not feel pain during the operation. Once you had gone under the surgeon would have made an incision in the treatment area. A cannula would have then been inserted into the body. This would have been used to break down the fat. The surgeon would then have manually pushed and pulled on the cannula in an aggressive and rapid motion. This would have caused the fat cells to break down allowing them to be removed from the body through suction. You would then have been brought around and would have been required to be an in- patient due to the amount of blood loss and trauma caused.

Recovery from Dry or Traditional Liposuction

The recovery process from dry or traditional liposuction was a long and very uncomfortable process. Dry liposuction caused large amounts of bleeding, as well as heavy bruising, and large amounts of swelling. This caused heavy pain, which required high strength prescription pain killers to manage. The recovery could take several months after which the results would be revealed.

Problems with Dry Liposuction

Dry liposuction has been abandoned due to the high level of risks and complications. The amount of blood lost in dry liposuction was extremely high. This meant that blood transfusions could be required and if they failed to be administered the patient could die. It also made the patient weak meaning that recovery was prolonged and uncomfortable.

The aggressive and imprecise method of breaking down the fat gave the surgeon very little control over the surgery. This meant that the results were often irregular and the patient was often left disfigured and extremely unhappy.

The treatment took a long amount of time to be completed. During this time, it was possible for the surgeon to become fatigued or to lose concentration. It also made infection more likely as the patient was open to infection for a longer period of time.

The amount of damage caused by the surgery meant that you would have suffered from severe pain and discomfort. This meant that you would have needed strong medication and would have needed to take a long period of time off work.

The traditional or dry liposuction technique required you to spend a lot of time in recovery unable to be physically active. This greatly increased the risk of deep vein thrombosis, which can occur when you are sedentary for a long period of time and can be life threatening.

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