By Reiver Rodriguez

MONTERREY -- At a recent seminar held in Monterrey's Sports City gym, Nuevo Laredo plastic surgeon Dr. Manuel Sanmiguel explained to a large crowd of club members the technique of liposculpture -- not liposuction as others call it.
Sanmiguel explained that humans have always been worried about their physical look. "Since the time of the Romans and Phoenicians, women were always looking for a way to look and feel better. Now, things are easier," he said.
"These procedures, which are the most widely performed in the world, have come a long way since the world first heard about them," Dr. Sanmiguel said, adding that he has helped with many of the improvements, including tumescent and ultrasonic techniques.
Sanmiguel aptly terms his technique liposculpture because he re-sculpts the form by gently easing excess fat away from the places it is not wanted. Like an artist, Sanmiguel works for the slimmer, sleeker curves you once had.
With this procedure, there is virtually no pain or blood loss. It also makes it easier to sculpt exactly what needs to be removed from the patient. This is almost always performed on an outpatient basis. Patients have no problem returning home without pain within one to two hours after the procedure has been performed.
"There is nothing sadder than to see someone starve and work out for weeks and months, often to the detriment of their health, only to find their problem spots -- thighs, buttocks, hips, belly -- unchanged. No one should ever go through that," he said.
Sanmiguel explained that the distribution of fat is proportioned according to our genetic coding and how many fat cells we were born with. In other words, some people have a disproportionate amount of fat in the hip, abdomen, or thigh area, for example. When this fat is removed by liposculpture, it never returns and areas that were untouched remain with the same number of fat cells that were there to begin with. Therefore, if you were to gain a couple of pounds, you would gain it proportionately.
For example, the patient who tries to decrease fat in the leg area with diet and exercise, and only reduces other parts of the body without decreasing that specific fat in the leg, is due to the fact that the fat cells there are greater in size and number that in other parts of the body.
The result of the liposuction is going to be influenced by the health of the patient, the quality of skin, age, weight, hormonal action, etc. For that reason, it's important to evaluate each patient.
Sanmiguel also mentioned that the liposculpture is not a substitute for healthy nourishment, nor is it the ideal way to decrease weight. "With this technique we improve your body contour in such a way that it can reduce from one to three clothes sizes (depending on the case) even though you don't note much change in the scale. Remember that with the liposculpture we remove clothes sizes more than pounds," he said. "You have a fighting chance to outwit nature's unkind designs!"
For good results it's necessary that patients have good elasticity of the skin which is generally reduced through abrupt weight changes, age, and hormonal dysfunction.
Responding to a question regarding whether liposculpture treated cellulite, Sanmiguel said that the word "cellulite" doesn't have real medical meaning; however, it is usually known as those small depressions and irregularities that appear on the surface of the skin, giving it the appearance of an orange peel. These depressions are secondary to the degeneracy of the proteins of the skin and of the structures that support it. Even though liposculpture is not specified to treat cellulite, a decrease of irregularities leaving a softer surface can be obtained through this technique. "The only specific treatment for cellulite is endermology," said Sanmiguel.
He added that after the surgery, during the first post-liposuction week, areas treated will be very inflamed and will look larger than before surgery. Generally after the first ten days patients begin to notice an abrupt reduction of the areas, which will continue through six months, necessary to consider final results.
"It's very important to have good communication between the patient and the plastic surgeon, so that possible changes and future benefits that could be obtained by means of this procedure can be established," he said.
Sanmiguel explained that the goal of all aesthetic procedures is the improvement of how one looks.
Finally, Sanmiguel noted that it's necessary to watch diet carefully after the liposculpture, since it is not a guarantee against weight gain.
For more information on the Dr. Sanmiguel Clinic, visit the web page

www.sanmiguelplasticsurgery.com.