Sometimes, our bodies just do not respond to diet and exercise the way we want them to. Cosmetic plastic surgery procedures can reshape many areas by removing excess fat and skin and toning muscle. Below are some of the procedures Dr. O'Brien performs for body contouring.

Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck)

Abdominoplasty helps to flatten and shape the abdomen and waist by removing excess fat and skin and tightening muscles. The best candidates have pockets of fat or loose skin that haven't responded well to diet and exercise. The procedure can also be useful for women with stretched skin and muscles from pregnancy.

The procedure takes approximately two to five hours and can be performed with general anesthesia or local anesthesia with a sedative. Recovery time ranges from two weeks to a few months. With a balanced diet and regular exercise, results are long-lasting. Abdominoplasty will likely leave a permanent scar stretching between the hips, although it should be low enough for even a bikini to conceal it.

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Brachioplasty (Arm Lift)

After substantial weight loss, weight gain or simply from the effects of aging, skin on the upper arms can become inelastic, loose and flabby. Arm lifts, also known as brachioplasty, remove that excess skin and fat. Patients who have significant amounts of fat may want to consider combining the procedure with liposuction.

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Body Lift / Thigh Lift

The body lift is performed to remove loose, excess skin from the torso and upper legs. It offers an improvement in appearance for patients who have lost significant amounts of weight due to childbearing, diet, exercise or bariatric surgery. The procedure is often combined with others such as breast lifts and arm lifts to retain a proper body proportion.

A thigh lift is performed to remove excess skin and fat from the upper legs. Candidates typically suffer from loose, inelastic skin after extreme weight loss due to diet, exercise or bariatric surgery. Because of this, the procedure is often combined with others such as breastlifts, facelifts and armlifts to retain an attractive body proportion.

In a medial thigh lift (inner thigh lift), the surgical incision is made in the inner thigh along the line where the leg meets the groin. In a lateral thigh lift (outer thigh lift), the incision is made from the groin around the back of the body, so that the buttocks are lifted along with the thigh.

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Buttock Augmentation

If you want to enlarge or re-shape your buttocks and have discovered that they do not respond to diet or exercise, buttock implants may be the solution. Implants come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are made of soft silicone, which provide a firm, smooth yet natural feel. They are placed away from the bony area on which you sit. The procedure takes about two hours and is performed under general anesthesia. Incisions are made inconspicuously in the depression between the buttocks. It may be performed in conjunction with liposuction for a more dramatic change in contour.

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Liposuction

The most popular cosmetic surgery procedure in the U.S., liposuction sculpts the body by removing undesirable fat that has not responded to diet and exercise from areas such as the abdomen, waist, hips, buttocks, thighs, knees, chin, cheeks, neck and upper arms. Local anesthesia or general anesthesia may be used, and the procedure can last anywhere from one to five hours depending on the amount of fat being removed.

There are several different methods surgeons use when performing liposuction, including ultrasound-assisted lipectomy (UAL) and suction-assisted lipectomy (SAL). In both types, fluid is injected into the area to be treated. Then a tiny incision is made in as inconspicuous a place as possible, and a cannula (small tube) breaks up the fat layer and suctions it out.

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LipoSelection

LipoSelection^SM by VASER® combines new patented technology with advanced surgical techniques to gently dissolve and remove excess fatty tissue from the abdomen, hips, "love handles," "saddlebags," thighs, arms, back, knees, neck and chin. The LipoSelection procedure uses ultrasound energy to eliminate fat while leaving nerves, blood vessels and connective tissue largely undisturbed. Without damage to this tissue, patients experience little pain and achieve much smoother results than with traditional liposuction.

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