Q: If I just lost 25 pounds in six months but want to lose 5 more, should I wait until I lose the extra 5 and then have liposuction, or should I have the lipo and then continue to lose weight?

A: It is always better to have liposuction when you are at or near your ideal body weight. You will heal better and get a better result in shape.

Q: I want to have liposuction in a city to where I would fly, but I don’t want to have to stay there for a long while. Can I fly to go home one day after liposuction?

A: Depending on the amount of surgery you have done and whether you also had a tummy tuck, flying shortly after the procedure could cause complications, a serious one might be a fat embolus that can travel to the lungs and be life threatening. It is prudent to wait a few days at least and get clearance from your surgeon who operated, as to when exactly you can fly again after the liposuction.

Q: I had abdominal liposuction five weeks ago and am more puffy now than at 2 weeks. What’s going on?

A: Provided that you have not increased your caloric consumption or markedly decreased your exercise activity per day, you are seeing swelling that takes time to go away. Results are slow and increase visibly over six months. The linear cavities formed after fat was removed collapse and new collagen solidifies these tunnels shrinking the overall volume.

Q: Do I need to be put to sleep for liposuction? I am afraid of general anesthesia.

A: No, you do not need general anesthesia or IV sedation, either. Tumescent liposuction, invented by a dermatologist in the early 1990s has been widely recognized as the safest way to do liposuction and has been integrated in most different specialties protocols. You are awake, can be given some medication by mouth to relax you and gentle administration of the local anesthetic plumps up the fatty tissue creating even less bruising than conventional liposuction as it used to be performed.

Q: I had liposuction 8 months ago and am happy with the contour but I wonder if I can have a little more removed. Is it too early?

A: No, 8 months is OK to undergo more liposuction if appropriate.