Will I gain weight after liposuction?

By a year after surgery, most people who have liposuction of their thighs wind up with more fat in their bellies. And if it was the tummy that was suctioned, don't be surprised to find chubbier arms and thighs a year later.

This is not surprising to me as a plastic surgeon, since nearly all of my patients weigh the same a year after surgery as they did before the surgery ... even after suctioning off 4 pounds of fat.

Our bodies seem to fight to get that fat back. That's because thousands of years ago, people who could store fat lived longer when no food was around. And since lifespan was 20 years, we didn't have to worry about heart disease and diabetes from obesity. There was a survival advantage to storing fat and being overweight; our genetic program would be ready for the next famine.

Liposuction will still get rid of those unsightly bulges that prevent you from wearing tight pants and almost everyone who has the surgery says they would do it again. But to keep that fat from returning, you still have to diet and exercise.

Patients may gain weight after liposuction in remote areas from the sculpted sites. Normally the fat that I remove with tumescent liposuction from the abdomen, breasts, or thighs does not reappear. But, weight gain from poor diet or inadequate exercise routine may lead to hypertrophy of fat cells in other areas of the body. Remember, liposuction is Not the cure for obesity and does Not prevent wieght gain in the future in distant areas.