Sculpt Your Silhouette: Your Guide to Body Contouring

Sometimes, despite your best efforts with diet and exercise, certain areas of your body just won’t respond the way you’d hoped. Body contouring procedures like liposuction (fat removal) and fat grafting (fat transfer) can help reshape and refine stubborn areas that resist traditional weight-loss methods.¹ There are different types of body contouring options and in this guide, we’ll explore how two popular techniques work individually and together to help you achieve the silhouette you’ve always wanted.

Why Consider Body Contouring?

First and foremost, it’s important to understand that body contouring procedures like liposuction aren’t weight-loss solutions. They’re sculpting techniques designed for people already at or near their ideal weight.²

Even after significant weight loss, you might have stubborn fat pockets around your abdomen, thighs or arms that won’t budge, no matter how much you exercise.¹ You may experience uneven body contours or a lack of volume in areas like the face, breasts or buttocks, which might make you feel self-conscious.²

Body contouring can improve your body’s shape, enhance self-confidence and address practical issues like hygiene and difficulty finding well-fitting clothes. These procedures work by removing fat from areas where you don’t want it and, in some cases, adding volume where you do want it.³

Liposuction for Stubborn Fat Pockets

Liposuction removes excess fat from targeted areas of your body through small incisions using a thin tube called a cannula. Your surgeon will make tiny cuts and insert the cannula to break up and suction out unwanted fat cells. The procedure permanently removes these fat cells.¹

Common treatment areas

The most popular areas for liposuction include your abdomen, thighs and hips. These areas may hold onto stubborn fat deposits that don’t respond well to diet and exercise alone. Your surgeon can treat multiple areas during the same procedure if it is appropriate for your goals.⁴

Advanced liposuction techniques

Liposuction has changed over the years with new techniques that help with body contouring including:⁴

• Laser-assisted liposuction (LAL). LAL employs laser energy to liquefy fat cells, which can also promote some skin tightening.
• Tumescent liposuction. This technique involves injecting a large volume of anesthetic solution into the targeted fat, which minimizes blood loss and reduces discomfort.
• Ultrasound-assisted liposuction (UAL). UAL uses sound waves to break down fat before removal, making it especially effective for large areas of dense or fibrous tissue.

To get the best results from the procedure, it’s important to be at a stable weight. Additionally, good candidates are in good overall health and have areas of unwanted adipose (fatty tissue) that haven’t responded to weight loss, exercise and diet.⁴

Fat Transfer for Added Volume

Fat grafting, also called fat transfer, adds natural volume to areas where you want enhancement using your own fat cells. Your surgeon harvests fat from areas where you have excess (such as your abdomen or thighs), processes it and injects it into areas that could benefit from more volume.³

Popular enhancement areas

Each area requires specialized techniques to ensure the best possible results. The most common areas include:³

• Breast. Provides natural breast augmentation
• Buttocks. Boosts volume, refines contours and improves texture and roundness, as with a Brazilian butt lift (BBL)
• Face. Fills in wrinkles and restores lost volume, helping to reverse the haggard appearance caused by rapid weight loss, colloquially known as “Ozempic face”⁵
• Hips. Improves proportions and balance by enhancing an hourglass figure

Harvesting fat and injection process

A fat transfer procedure begins with gentle liposuction to collect fat from donor areas. Your surgeon then processes this fat using advanced techniques to ensure the healthiest fat cells are selected for transfer. Finally, the purified fat is carefully injected into the treatment area using specialized techniques to maximize survival and create natural-looking results.³

Advantages of using your own fat

A good candidate for fat transfer should have adequate fat stores for harvesting and be committed to maintaining a stable weight for optimal results. Using your own fat offers several advantages over synthetic fillers:³

• Results can be longer-lasting than synthetic options
• The dual benefit of removing fat from unwanted areas while adding it where you want enhancement
• Your body won’t reject its own fat, helping eliminate allergy concerns

Fat transfer recovery timeline

Recovery for both procedures involves managing swelling and soreness at both the donor and recipient sites. The only incisions are those from the liposuction (donor) sites. Most people return to work within a week, with final results visible after about six months as the transferred fat settles.³

Combining Lipo and Fat Grafting for Superior Body Sculpting

Taking fat from problem areas that won’t seem to budge and using it to supplement areas that are uneven, gaunt or deflated can allow you to experience the best of both worlds.⁶

This isn’t to say that liposuction and fat grafting are a magical fix. First, you must have appropriate fat reserves and realistic expectations. While fat grafting can add volume to certain areas, it will not address severe skin laxity or loose skin.³ And if you’re considering liposuction and fat grafting, you’ll want to work with a board-certified plastic or cosmetic surgeon who can help you determine the best approach for your goals.⁶

Combining liposuction and fat transfer can help refine and perfect your post-weight-loss body and can be an effective symbiotic approach to refining body contours.

Financing Body Contouring With the CareCredit Credit Card

Ready to revitalize your appearance and boost your confidence? The CareCredit credit card makes it easy to pay for body contouring and related expenses not covered by health insurance.* Use our Acceptance Locator to find a doctor or cosmetic surgeon near you that accepts CareCredit so you can stop dreaming and start living your best life. Continue your wellness journey by downloading the CareCredit Mobile App to manage your CareCredit account, find a provider on the go and easily access the Well U blog for more great articles, podcasts and videos.

In addition to cosmetic procedures, you can also use your CareCredit credit card for dentistry, pet care, vision, hearing, health systems, dermatology, pharmacy purchases, spa treatments and so much more within the CareCredit network. How will you invest in your health and wellness next?

Author Bio

Pamela Cagle, R.N., has extensive experience in a range of clinical settings, including ER, surgical and cardiovascular. For the past decade, she has leveraged her nursing experience in writing for health and technology publications such as AARP, VKTR, National Council on Aging and others. She is passionate about blending her medical and storytelling expertise to bring authenticity to health and wellness topics.