Image Directed Outpatient Plastic Surgery - John F. Flory, M.D. - Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

Patients from Central Ohio including Columbus, Marysville, Marion, Bellefontaine, Springfield, Powell, Worthington, Delaware, and Mansfield can conveniently schedule appointments in our Dublin office.
Patients from southern Ohio including Washington Courthouse, Circleville, Lancaster, Logan, Waverley, Jackson, Greenfield, Hillsboro, Wellston, McArthur, and Athens can conveniently schedule appointments in our Chillicothe office.

Standard SAL was the very first form of lipoplasty and the one generally called liposuction. It is still the most frequently used form of lipoplasty used today. Even when it is not used primarily , it is still used to remove the fat destroyed by the other techniques (ultrasound and laser). It uses a canula (a long slender tube) with various types of holes at the tip to pulverize and then vacuum up the disrupted fat cells. In most areas of the body it is the quickest and most efficient method for selectively removing the fat. It also allows you to see the changes as they are actually taking place.

UAL was developed in the early 1990's and involves the transmission of ultrasonic sound waves down a special cannula so as to selectively disrupt fat cells in proximity to the tip of the cannula. It has several advantages over standard SAL. First, it is more effective in fibrous areas such as the breast, the upper abdomen, and the back. The sound waves are able to penetrate the fibrous areas effectively when standard cannulas often can't. Second, it is more effective at tightening the ligaments holding the skin to the structures below. This generally results in a more even skin tightening over the area being liposuctioned. Third, there can be some extra skin tightening due to the thermal energy applied directly under the skin. The application of ultrasound incited thermal energy directly under the skin, however carries risk of burn injuries to the skin itself and thus must be used with extreme caution. Finally, UAL is probably safer from the standpoint of penetration injuries since it does not require the ramming technique of standard SAL. The drawbacks of UAL is that it requires an extra step thus adding time to procedure. It is generally more painful to perform than regular SAL. It generally results in slightly more permanent loss of feeling than standard SAL. Finally, the endpoint for complete healing is slightly longer than standard SAL.

PAL was developed in the early 1998 to help ease some of the physical strain on the surgeon doing extensive SAL. This was particularly helpful for those surgeons doing large volume SAL, where large amounts of fat was being removed from many areas. Dr. Flory does not believe in large volume liposuction and does not perform it. Thus PAL does not offer any advantages to Dr. Flory. Dr. Flory believes that large volume liposuction is an inappropriate alternative to the reduction of fat by diet and exercise.