There are people who still believe that plastic surgery is performed mostly for weight loss purposes and that this is exactly what liposuction and tummy tuck will do for them. The reality is a bit different, and people who are educated about plastic surgery know that plastic surgery can’t help you lose weight and are just methods to reshape and recontour the body after weight loss has already occurred.
So now that we have established that plastic surgery is clearly not for people who are overweight or obese, you might wonder why some plastic surgeons advise their patients to gain weight before surgery. This might sound funny, but it happens more often than you think.
The general recommendation for patients interested in undergoing plastic surgery is to be of a normal weight and to have been keeping a stable weight for at least six to eight months. This is helpful in sustaining the results of the procedure and a common requirement before scheduling plastic surgery. So how come some plastic surgeons will ask you to put on weight before your procedure? The answer, in this case, is not overly complicated. This doesn’t happen unless we are talking about procedures that entail fat transfer to one or multiple areas of the body. What does this mean?
Usually what happens is that the patient goes to the pre-operative consultation for breast lipofilling and the plastic surgeon notices that the patient just doesn’t have enough fat tissue in other areas of the body to be eligible for the procedure. In this case and if the patient is adamant about not getting implants to get the desired augmentation, the only possible solution is for the patient to put on weight before the surgery.
The plastic surgeon will advise the patient to gain a certain amount of weight before breast lipofilling can be performed. Usually, this can take up to a few months, depending from patient to patient. The recommendation is to consume highly caloric products, but not necessarily junk food or overly processed foods as these are not good for your body. After the patient has gained as much weight as recommended, she might be asked to go in for another consultation before her procedure is scheduled.
Putting on weight before breast lipofilling is not as uncommon as you might think. There are plenty of patients who prefer to undergo this procedure to enhance the shape and size of their breasts as it has fewer risks and potential complications associated with it. But breast lipofilling can’t be performed if the patient doesn’t have enough fat in other areas of the body to be used for the transfer. When breast lipofilling is performed, the plastic surgeon will remove fat from other areas of the body (often the abdomen, flanks and thighs) and then reinject this fat into the breasts.