Liposuction is the most popular and most performed kind of cosmetic surgery on the planet. Patients are overwhelmingly happy with their results. And we also know that being overweight or obese carries numerous health risks such that life expectancy for the obese is reduced as compared with those of a more normal weight. So the question arises: does liposuction improve health? Is losing 3kg of fat via liposuction bring about the same health benefits as losing 3kg by diet and exercise?
A number of studies have looked at this question, with conflicting results. I review some of these in some detail on the Liposuction Research page of this website. But, to summarise, it seems that those who have liposuction performed * and then do not keep their weight at its new lower level* will not see health benefits.
On the other hand, those patients who see their liposuction result * as a new chance to live a healthier life and stay looking/feeling better* will also see health benefits.
Removing the excess fat, by itself, doesn’t seem to do enough to significantly change parameters of risk such as cholesterol levels. Granted, though, that the studies are small. Maybe larger studies would detect a positive effect.
But liposuction doesn’t happen in isolation – it happens in a person. That person will respond to having had liposuction in a number of ways, and if the response is to live more healthily, then of course benefits will accrue.
And so – if improving your shape with liposuction, and getting rid of the bumps you hate with liposuction, will help get you into exercising a doing good things for yourself in other ways, then liposuction is absolutely the healthy thing to do.