Contrary to popular belief, liposuction is not considered a weight loss alternative. Liposuction is typically performed on patients who are within their ideal body weight but may have excess fat in certain areas. With technological advances, there are now many types of liposuction available, however these avenues are still usually not open to patients who are severely overweight or obese.
Model Photo
In cases where most physicians will tell a patient "No" due to excess weight, Atlanta cosmetic surgeon and body contouring expert Dr. Nedra Dodds offers these patients hope for a better shape and more importantly, a healthier lifestyle to maintain the results.
Patients from all over the country and the world seek the body contouring services that Dr. Dodds provides. While all medical spa services are available at Dr. Dodds' Georgia practice, Opulence Aesthetic Medicine, her specialty lies within body contouring, especially for patients that have been turned down before.
"Patients that come to me are predominantly female and they are usually the patients who, 9 times out of 10, have been told 'No' by other physicians
because of their body size," explains Dr. Dodds, "I am the person who takes on the challenge. We take on the 240+, 250+ patient and tell them that there is hope for them but they must understand what we do is a process and we are entering into a long term relationship."
Using a combination of body contouring procedures, which won her THE Aesthetic Show Award in 2011 for Best Surgical Body Contouring Results, Dr. Dodds applies all possible techniques to help patients slim down. Since the majority of her patients have a large amount of fat to get rid of, Dr. Dodds mainly relies on power assisted liposuction which helps battle physician fatigue. However, she also combines a variety of lasers to achieve the best possible results for her patients, including post-liposuction non-invasive procedures, such as Zerona or SmoothShapes.Actual Before and After Body Contouring Results By Dr. Nedra Dodds, MD
Dr. Dodds stresses the importance of the long term relationship between the patient and her as the physician. "Excessive weight doesn't happen overnight and we won't be able to fix it all in one day but what we will do everyday once it's done is maintain it," states Dr. Dodds. She is able to successfully work with patients that have been turned down due to excessive weight due to her staging process, which also mitigates high complication rates.Actual Before and After Body Contouring Results By Dr. Nedra Dodds, MD
The staging process involves honing in on the patient's key problem areas and tackling them in separate stages. One of the integral parts that Dr. Dodds teaches patients is the importance of patience. "We can only do a certain amount at a certain time and by teaching patients the concept of patience, it allows them to gain control over what they have to do long term
with weight loss while reminding them that they have to be patient during this process," explains Dr. Dodds, "This is a team effort between me and my patient and I - during the process of weight loss, patients have to understand that it takes time to get rid of excessive weight."
"People think there's always a magic bullet when it comes to weight loss but it always still comes down to what you eat and then how you expend calories," states Dr. Dodds, "Once patients understand this concept, they can sustain it for the rest of their lives because the reality of what I do is I am a shaping a patient through liposuction but it is not a size procedure. I tell patients, 'I control your shape but you control your size.' While I can help them get the shape they desire, it is entirely up to the patient to maintain their size."