Plastic Surgery

[jonathandhallmd]

Hi, I am a board certified plastic surgeon with more than 15 years of experience in the areas of plastic and aesthetic (cosmetic) surgery. I am relatively new to the internet, but would be happy to answer any questions that you have.

Dr. Jonathan D. Hall

[brendas]

hi my name is brenda and I'm interested in liposuction of my stomach. I've i had one baby. My wieght is 245 and i'm 5'5. I'm also having trouble with back pain b/c my breasts are too large. I'm 40 DDD. Is this something that is covered by insurance.

[jonathandhallmd]

This should not be construed as medical advice. I am a board certified plastic surgeon.

 

That's a great question brenda. It has been my experience that Liposuction is rarely covered by health insurance, as most contracts exclude "cosmetic" procedures. More importantly, you would most likely not be a good candidate for liposuction of your abdomen for two separate reasons. Liposuction is usually best for those patients who are within 20-30 lbs of their ideal body weight. The amount that can be safely removed at one time is in general not going to make as much of a difference for patients who are heavier. Better to lose the weight first and then address the areas that don't respond to diet and exercise. I also noticed in your question that you have had a baby. As a general rule again most women who have had a baby have excess skin that was stretched by the pregnancy and didn't retract fully, as well as abdominal muscles that were stretched out. Doing liposuction of the abdomen in this setting rarely gives a satisfactory improvement and can oftentimes actually worsen the appearance of the abdomen! It can make the loose skin looser. The results and the recovery in my practice from abdominoplasty have been much better when patients are within around 30 lbs of

their ideal weight.