Liposuction and Vacation Planning

When a person is planning a vacation and wants to look his or her very best, liposuction might be on the "to do" list. No matter where the destination is, a vacationer will surely look better without those telltale bulges hither and yon. But, like all surgical procedures, there will be some recovery time to plan into the equation. In order to look great and feel great on the beach, in Europe or being a dude or dudette at a ranch out west, individuals will need to build healing into their pre-travel itinerary. Here are some things to think about:

- What liposuction is: Lipo is a cosmetic procedure performed by a plastic surgeon in a clinic or hospital setting. The doctor will prepare the site by injecting a tumescent fluid into the regions sporting the bulges or loosen the adipose with a lasering technique. Next, he or she will make tiny incisions where the fat will be suctioned from. A slender medical tool called a cannula will be inserted into those incisions and the fat will be suctioned away.

- How long it takes: The length of the procedure will depend on how much fat needs to be removed. The time frame can be anywhere between half an hour to several hours. Because this is an outpatient procedure, the patient should expect to sleep in her or his own bed that night.

- Recovery time: There will be some pain initially as well as some swelling and unsettled fat. The patient will have to wear a compression garment in order to help finalize the healing result. The swelling takes a few months to completely subside. Bruising lasts a few weeks and the discomfort varies greatly depending on the patients' pain threshold and the amount of adipose tissue that was removed. Pain medications will be prescribed in the early days of healing.

- Final result: The final result should be viewable by the end of the fourth month. In order to be sure of being ready for the vacation, an individual might want to wait five months to hit the vacationing trail. This leaves an extra month to shop for new clothes.

- Destinations: If a patient who has sculpted his or her body decides to plan a beach vacation, he or she will feel much better about the way his or her body looks in a swimsuit. If traveling to Europe, those cool clothes in France will look much better on a slim physique. Dudes and dudettes who will be riding the range on horseback will look svelte in their blue-jeans, flannel shirts and cowboy hats. Heehaw Liposuction!

Once a person decides to have liposuction performed before going on vacation, he or she just needs to get out a calendar and schedule book to start booking appointments. Once a plastic surgeon has performed the initial exam and set the surgery date, it will be time to book flights, hotels and start planning. It may be wise to make the initial consultation appointment six months prior to the projected travel dates so that everything will be ready to go - passports, check; plane tickets, check, slender body, check!