Nov 8, 2006 9:45 pm US/Central
Thin Patients Using Liposuction For Problem Areas
by Shannon Hori
(CBS 11 News)
When you think of someone getting liposuction, you most likely envision an overweight person as the patient, but these days, you might be surprised at the people paying for the procedure.
Now, after having plastic surgery to adjust her body, Jennifer Dean says she loves the way she looks in her jeans. "As hard as I would work out, I just couldn't seem to get the shape that I wanted," she said.
Dean turned to liposuction, joining more than 450,000 other Americans who use the procedure each year. But she's different than most, because she only had ounces taken off.
Dean says she wasn't trying to lose weight, but used liposuction to sculpt her body - particularly her back-side. "He just gave me a fuller look to my buttocks. The girls that I worked with, they thought I was crazy. (They would) say oh you know, you don't need it, you don't need it."
Dean is taking part in a growing trend where women who by most standards, are thin, get liposuction to fix problem areas – most commonly fat around the bra, back, buttocks, and knees.
"It's only in recent years we adopted it for miniscule amounts," said plastic surgeon, Dr. Lawrence Reed.
Dr. Reed is Dean's plastic surgeon and spokesperson for the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. He says liposuction has changed over time from removing pounds, to removing next to nothing. "The volumes are inconsequential; you're talking about ounces sometimes," he said.
Reed says the trend is driven by new fashion-crazes like low-rise jeans, which his clients want to wear without a roll hanging over the belt.
When asked if the surgery risks are worth the results, Reed said, "If it were a high risk procedure, or had incredible down time, or was very expensive, I would say it's not worth it."
Dean went back to work the day after her liposuction, and all bruising was gone within weeks.
There are risks for liposuction, including infection and scarring. If you're considering a procedure make sure your doctor is certified.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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