New Liposuction Lets Your Surgeon Sculpt Your Body

April 3, 2006 — -- Brand-new outpatient plastic surgery techniques could give patients the body they want without spending hours at the gym or enduring a painful recovery and unsightly scars.

Believe it or not, Dr. Michelle Copeland says the new kinds of liposuction are not too good to be true.

The new procedures can create a toned, muscular body and home in on the problem areas, Copeland said. One procedure can actually etch six-pack abs, another boosts flat behinds and another sculpts shapely ankles and calves.

" Isn't it about the six-pack?" asked Paula Antovaras, who underwent high-definition liposelection. "Everybody loves a six-pack on anybody."

The 37-year-old mother of two talked about her surgery on "Inside Edition." She underwent a procedure called high-definition liposelection in which doctors sculpted a six-pack into her abs by enhancing her exact muscle structure with her own fat.

"This uses the technique of liposculpturing, so if somebody is looking at their body parts, sometimes we have to reduce, sometimes we have to add," Copeland said. "Sometime people have a flat or sagging butt and they want a lift or a perk. In the past, we couldn't do that without making large scars. But today, virtually scarless, we can lift the butt, give it a fullness. We can use lipo to take it from certain areas, then add that fat to others."

It usually costs $5,000 and up, and recovery time is minimal because the incisions are small. Copeland said that people usually took only a few days off from work, but that it did take three weeks to six months to see the full effects.

New York actress Joanna Blais underwent Brazilian butt sculpting. Doctors added lift and bulk to her flat derriere.

"I never could have imagined that one could go to a doctor and say, 'You know I would like a butt like this,'" she said.

Copeland said that only about half the added fat lasts and that it usually disappeared due to aging. She said that all kinds of people could benefit from liposelection because no matter what, sometimes parts of the body are stubborn and will not change no matter how much one exercises.

She said there were specific techniques for specific parts of the body.

For example, someone with thick ankles could have fat removed from the ankle and sometimes the calf and knee as well.

Liposuction can also help people get started on a diet, she said.

"Once a fat cell is removed, it's gone forever," Copeland said. "But if you're going to put on 10 pounds, it's less likely to go where you had liposuction. It's a jump-start for many people for weight loss."

Like with all surgeries, Copeland said there were some risks involved.

"You want to make sure someone has the same aesthetic sense as your doctor," she said. "Computer imaging helps here to help you see how you're going to look. There can be healing issues, bruising issues and sometimes swelling."