Does fibrosis always occur after lipo?

Liposuction, fibrosis and “miraculous” instant skin tightening

• Some fibrosis occurs almost always after liposuction

• Fibrosis after non-surgical procedures

• Inadvertent vs deliberate fibrosis

• It is the first time in the history of mankind that people’s skin has widespread fibrosis

• In the pursuit of instant skin “tightness” you may not care about natural skin but, believe me, you will care about lumps and bumps

• Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

Some fibrosis occurs almost always after liposuction

Fibrosis (i.e. internal scar tissue) is the result of inflammation. Not all Inflammation results in fibrosis, but quite often it does.

Fibrosis after liposuction surgery can happen as a result of:

• Mechanical trauma, i.e. the movement of the liposuction cannula under the skin. This usually manifests as fibrous nodules (i.e. bumps / hard lumps) or occasional adhesions (skin stuck to underlying tissues and inhibiting movement / causing pain during movement). This kind of fibrosis is inadvertent.

• Generalised tissue inflammation produced after lipo, especially on areas where skin appears bruised. This also manifests as fibrous nodules, adhesions and skin hardening on large areas of skin.

• Thermal trauma, i.e. burn from the ultrasound, radiofrequency or laser cannula tip used during vaser, bodytite or smart lipo, respectively. The hot cannula tip aims to burn tissue at 60-90°, in order to “tighten” it, by deliberately producing controlled fibrosis. The problem is that quite often the fibrosis is not that “controlled’. Thermal fibrosis can manifest as fibrous nodules, adhesions or a generalised skin hardening in large skin areas.

All these types of fibrosis can be very temporary and disappear within a few weeks or semi-permanent and last for years. Usual most fibrosis goes down within a few months to two years.

At the clinic we have seen a case of fibrosis persisting 10 years after vaser liposuction.

Fibrosis after non-surgical procedures

This deliberate so-called “controlled” thermal fibrosis that is passed as skin tightening (in reality, skin hardening) also occurs after non-surgical procedures, such as high intensity HIFU and high intensity RF microneedling.

Both techniques aim to create controlled thermal fibrosis within the dermis, hypodermis and subcutaneous adipose tissue.

Additionally, any intensity RF microneedling causes mechanical fibrosis via the needles that puncture the skin up to 8mm deep.

Inadvertent vs deliberate fibrosis

The generalised inflammation occurring sometimes after liposuction, and that occurring due to the odd “poking” of the tissues with the cannula during lipo, are inadvertent and quite often unavoidable. They are part and parcel of the liposuction procedure and before lipo you should be informed of those dangers.

However, there is nothing inadvertent about the thermal fibrosis caused by vaser, smart lipo, bodytite (and also by high intensity HIFU and high intensity RF microneedling), which are actually deliberate and aim to literally cause fibrosis. These should also be explained to patients/clients before those procedures - even more so after plain lipo.

At the clinic we have seen countless examples of such tissue damage, which despite being meant to be “controlled”, they end up being quite uncontrolled.

And as these procedures become more and more hyped up - and therefore popular - we see more and more lumps, bumps, adhesions and skin hardening - not skin tightening.

It is the first time in the history of mankind that people’s skin has widespread fibrosis

In fact, it is the fist time in humanity’s history that widespread fibrosis, anything from low grade to severe, is found in millions of people’s skin today, without them first suffering burns or mechanical injury due to a domestic, industrial or home accident.

At the time of writing this article we have performed at least 200 skin ultrasonography scans, on people with or without fibrosis.

And we have to say that the images we see after high intensity HIFU, high intensity RF microneedling, vaser, bodytite, laser lipo or general liposuction, have NOTHING to do with normal, healthy, firm skin. NOTHING. The tissues in those cases look like a “war zone”, as we call it, akin to a city after bombardment.

The hypodermis and subcutaneous adipose tissue of human beings has never had such high levels of the wrong type of collagen in all the wrong places.

There is a specific architecture of collagen tissue in human skin and subcutaneous tissue, and the collagen tissue produced by such procedures has nothing to do with it.

It is like replacing virgin, diverse, beautiful, natural, rainforest with a palm monoculture plantation, devoid of anything good in it. You have to see the ultrasound scans to see the widespread damage passing as “skin tightening”.

In the pursuit of instant skin “tightness” you may not care about natural skin but, believe me, you will care about lumps and bumps

To be honest, most people don’t really care if tissues are damaged inside, as long as there is the general appearance of “tightness”, even if in reality this is hardness. Most people don’t care about ‘natural’.

However, all people do care about not having lumps, bumps and skin stuck to their tissues underneath. And the problem with thermal fibrosis, as a means of such skin hardening, is that it cannot be properly controlled. It is largely unpredictable:

• Some people will react with no skin tightening/hardening (unhappy client/patient due to no results but no hard feelings)

• Some will react with just the right amount (lucky and happy)

• And some will react with too much fibrosis (extremely unhappy, up to the point of depression and anxiety - we do see many of those)

And as thermal fibrosis is like playing russian roulette, not knowing who will be happy and who will be depressed, we do not do such procedures at the clinic at all.

Instead, we do it the natural, gradual, super-safe, time-tested way, with deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation.

And we do offer post-lipo fibrosis, post-HIFU fibrosis and post-RF microneedling fibrosis reduction treatments too.

But please be warned: fibrosis takes literally seconds to be produced and requires 10, 20 or more sessions, and several weeks/months to be reduced.

You cannot force fibrosis reduction as you force its creation with one “miracle”, very painful, very expensive treatment. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way, so please be patient.

Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.

This is all we study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment and their manufacturers.

As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.

Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.

Our radiofrequency/ultrasound treatments are comfortable, pain-free, downtime-free, injection-free, microneedling-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.

And our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service, with a smile.

We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1)