If the shape of the body has been permanently altered, body contouring procedures can help you to feel comfortable in your body again. The Department for Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery offers a specialized consultation for body contouring.
Heavy weight loss, pregnancy, age-related changes, but also lipedema or cancer therapy can have one thing in common: The body is no longer the same as before. Once the physical appearance has been permanently altered, body image and self-confidence can be severely impaired and functional problems can also occur. Body contouring procedures can then help you feel comfortable in your body again.
When too much and sagging skin remains
After dieting, massive weight loss or after pregnancy, the skin usually completely retracts from the expansion. However, if the expansion was significant, the skin sometimes does not manage to return to its original shape. A permanent skin excess and clearly sagging and flabby skin are the result. These changes not only disturb many sufferers aesthetically, recurrent infections can occur in the skin folds, which also lead to functional problems. “Such significant excess skin does not regress and can only be reduced surgically,” explains Nicole Lindenblatt, a specialist in aesthetic surgery and deputy director of the Clinic for Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery at the USZ. “Especially after bariatric surgery and massive weight loss, tightening operations are often necessary. We therefore also work closely with the Obesity Center at the USZ.”
Operations for specialists
Stubborn fat deposits for which sport and diet have no effect can also be removed in this way. “Body contouring procedures are not a substitute for weight loss, however,” emphasizes Nicole Lindenblatt. “They are operations that significantly change the appearance and body sensation. That is why comprehensive consultation and experience are important. These operations therefore also belong in experienced hands of specialists”.
Experience from complex cases
Diseases can also be a reason to restore the body contour with surgery. Thus, lipedema can lead to painful fat deposits that can be surgically removed. The experience of Lindenblatt’s team, especially with complex cases at a university hospital and as a training center for plastic surgery, is what patients benefit from. “Many people are not aware that we have a lot of experience with aesthetic surgery at the USZ and offer appropriate procedures,” Nicole Lindenblatt knows. “Even when procedures performed elsewhere have failed or led to complications, patients come to us or are referred to us to correct the outcome.”
Special consultation for Body Contouring
Nicole Lindenblatt and a specialized team offer a special consultation for people considering body contouring. The possibilities, the different procedures, the expectations and risks are discussed in detail therein. “Our patients don’t want unrealistic dream bodies,” says Nicole Lindenblatt. “They want to eliminate changes that cannot be treated with exercise or diet, and that cause them psychological, as well as functional problems. They simply want to feel comfortable in their bodies again and confidently participate in social life, from which many of them have almost completely withdrawn because of their appearance”.
The most common procedures are tummy tucks and arm lifts
The term body contouring or body sculpting encompasses the various methods and procedures used to remove fatty tissue, reshape areas of the body, and tighten or remove excess skin. “At USZ, we offer the full spectrum of body contouring surgical techniques. In particular, in the area of liposuction, we can offer high-definition (HD) liposuction,” Lindenblatt said. Common and typical procedures include liposuction and fat injections, tummy tucks, arm lifts, and thigh lifts.
Realistic goals and results
However, prior to any procedure, there is a comprehensive consultation and discussion of the desired change by an experienced plastic surgeon or surgeon, including a thorough medical evaluation on medical history and current health, previous surgeries, allergies, and medications currently being taken. If different treatment options come into question, they are discussed in detail. So is anesthesia and pain management after surgery. “It’s important to address the risks as well,” stresses Nicole Lindenblatt. “We also attach great importance to presenting the expected results realistically. Here, too, our patients benefit from the experience of our team, even with complex cases of restoration.” Cost is also an issue. Body contouring surgery for aesthetic purposes must be paid for by the patients themselves. Body contouring surgeries performed after significant weight loss and procedures with a medical necessity may be covered by health insurance on a case-by-case basis after a preliminary clarification of cost coverage.
Many procedures can be performed on an outpatient basis
Body contouring procedures are usually performed under general anesthesia. Many procedures can be performed on an outpatient basis at the state-of-the-art USZ Airport Outpatient Health Center, allowing the patient to go home the same day. Hospitalization may be required for major procedures. “The result and our goal,” says Lindenblatt, “is defined and shapely body parts and symptom relief so patients feel good about their bodies again.”