Liposuction - Fat Comes Back

Liposuction can help shape parts of your body, but the fat it takes away might not stay away.

A new study is showing that one year after liposuction the fat does come back, but it comes back in a different area of the body. And most women in the study were still happy with the results.

A University of Colorado study looking at what happens to women's fat after liposuction found that in the 14 women they followed, the fat returned to their bodies. The women in this study had a modest amount of fat removed from their thighs and hips. Fat measurements, using a device called a DXA that not only measures body fat but tells where most of it is, found that 12 months after undergoing liposuction, the fat they lost had actually come back. But instead of going to the waist or hips, where they had it removed, for most of the women it was added to their abdomen.

Obesity experts think the reason the fat comes back is because our bodies defend the fat it has. So, when it's removed by liposuction the body brings it back. But it doesn't come back to the area it was removed from since the structures supporting fat in that area were damaged, but instead goes to other parts of the body. In this case, the abdomen. However, the women in the study were still happy with the results of their liposuction, probably because it improved their "problem areas."