Liposuction techniques and devices have advanced by leaps and bounds over the last few years and the trend has been towards systems that deliver energy to the fat and either melt or simply disrupt the fat. After the fat is affected, it is suctioned out just as with traditional lipo. One company has released a device that disrupts fat but doesn't use any lasers or ultrasonic waves to do so. Tickle Lipo, also known as Custom Acoustic Liposuction uses a special rotating cannula to disrupt fat.
Dr. Jeffrey Hall, a board certified cosmetic surgeon in Austin, TX, uses the device and before purchasing, he made his decision very carefully. "I'm a little more conservative, I want to see the results and the science behind it," he says. "I went to another physician that had used the technology for a while, got their personal input and then I saw them do the procedure so I was able to see ok here is what it really is vs. here is what they tell me it is."
Actual Tickle Lipo results of Dr. Jeffrey Hall
He says one of the advantages of Tickle Lipo are the options in anesthesia and the recovery for the patient. "You don't have to have the patient completely asleep, and the recovery is so much better for the patient. They have less bruising and less swelling for instance we did a patient on Tuesday and again we were only doing a small area like the ab and they were back to work on Friday. With the standard lipo, that is not the case ? maybe 2 weeks. That's a win-win compared to the other technologies."
Patients have a choice with Tickle Lipo, and they can choose IV or oral sedation. As Dr. Hall describes, "So when we do this we look at our patients and we say how many areas are we going to do and we also figure in whether or not they want to have IV sedation. Some people we could do one small area and small volume and they don't want to know what's going on." He says those patients may not get the benefit of oral sedation but they do get the advantage of the results and recovery. "Whereas a patient comes in, they can tolerate the operation and doesn't mind knowing what's going on, that's the advantage of the oral sedation, which is taking a pill, is that they can have it done walk away without having any side effects or anything."
One of the reported advantages of laser lipo and other new lipo technologies is the benefit of skin tightening. "I think the environment is there's a lot of body contouring or liposuction technologies out there and there are two schools of thought. One is a school of thought that the more we heat up the skin the more skin shrinkage we get, the better shape we get. The other school of thought is the more we preserve the anatomy underneath the skin the more the skin can redirect itself and contract so you have two competing theories there. Both are going to want to get out as much fat as we can and to reduce contour irregularities."
Actual Tickle Lipo results of Dr. Jeffrey Hall
He says there is some tightening from CAL, but to improve the results, Dr. Hall applies additional skin tightening after the procedure. "You do get better tightening or as much tightening as standard lipo. Now, what we do is combination to get the results so we thin the fat layer out, let the spotty skin smooth and contract and then come back after a couple of months and then on top of that add radio frequency. We use the Accent machine, so we put that on top which is in a way sort of dealing with laser theory is you trying to heat it up but we heat it externally which means - well to me - it's more efficient. You may not have to do it but I think it can promote more skin contraction."
Dr. Hall says he enjoys providing his patients with the beautiful results they're looking for. "I think it's rewarding to make a difference in people's lives. The woman who's gone through pregnancy and everything that can happen to their body and have a patient say you have made a difference in my life. Like, mommy makeover procedures, the breast and the stomach area, if that was all I did that would be great because they get a good result."
