In most cases, the fat cells once removed with liposuction plastic surgery will never return. As long as the patient maintains a normal body weight after liposuction, or even gains a moderate amount of weight over the years, new fat cells will not be produced in the body.
Adults typically do not produce new fat cells. Therefore, patients choosing liposuction have an advantage that their fat loss will be permanent, and the fat cells once eliminated from a particular area will not grow back.
Modern Body Contouring & Laser Center (MBody), led by astute board certified plastic surgeons Dr. Burton M. Sundin and Dr. Reps B. Sundin, provides liposuction to patients in Northern Virginia, Washington DC, Vienna, McLean, Loudoun, Ashburn, Tysons Corner, Reston, Arlington, Chevy Chase, Richmond, Fredericksburg and surrounding communities.
Fat Cell Growth with Substantive Weight Gain
If the patient gains a moderate amount of weight in the years following their liposuction surgery, their remaining fat cells in the treated areas will simply grow bigger. They will accumulate more fat within the existing cell membranes.
However, if the weight gain is substantive (say, 10 percent of the body weight or more), new fat cell development in multiple areas of the body can occur. This could include the areas previously treated with liposuction surgery.
When an adult gains a relatively large amount of body weight, it will increase the number of lipocytes (fat cells) that would be formed from the existing pleuripotential connective tissue cells through a process of differentiation. In this process, the existing connective tissue cells will first change into immature fat cells (known as lipoblasts).
Thereafter, the lipoblasts will gradually develop into mature fat cells as the patient progressively gains weight. However, relatively lesser fat would accumulate in the areas treated with liposuction as compared to the other areas. This means that the patient might still continue to experience the body contouring benefits of liposuction to some extent, even with a substantive weight gain.
Safe Volume of Fat Cell Reduction with Liposuction
A proven and judicious surgeon would take care to adopt a conservative approach to fat removal while performing liposuction. The safe limit for fat removal with liposuction in a single treatment session could be somewhere in the range of six to eight pounds (about three to four liters).
This could slightly vary according to the patient’s health, body weight, fat deposit accumulation, and other factors.
If more fat volume is removed in a single day, it could pose a higher risk of complications for the patient. Some patients may require more fat removal than six to eight pounds. In such case, the surgeon may decide to perform liposuction in two or more phases.
They would keep a gap of at least one month or more between the two phases. Each phase would be performed as a separate liposuction plastic surgery procedure.
Aesthetic Limitations with Excessive Fat Removal
Apart from the medical risks with excessive fat removal, the patient would also have higher chances of developing loose or sagging skin, dimpling, and folds in the treated areas. If the stubborn fat deposits have been present for a long time in a particular area, they would cause the skin to permanently stretch and lose elasticity.
Therefore, once a larger amount of fat is removed from the area, it would cause the area to deflate and the skin would sag. In such cases, the patient would have to combine liposuction with a lower body lift, breast lift, or tummy tuck, depending on the area of treatment.
Reliable plastic surgeons at MBody receive patients from Northern Virginia, Washington DC, Vienna, McLean, Loudoun, Ashburn, Tysons Corner, Reston, Arlington, Chevy Chase, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and other neighborhoods and communities in this part of the US for liposuction.
For more information on the surgical and non-surgical procedures and treatments by Board Certified Cosmetic Plastic Surgeons Dr. Reps Sundin and Dr. Burton Sundin please visit
Serving Northern Virginia, Washington DC, Vienna, McLean, Fairfax, Loudoun County, Ashburn, Tysons Corner, Reston, Arlington, Fredricksburg, Chevy Chase, Potomac, Maryland Richmond, VA and surrounding communities.
