It doesn’t have to be an either-or question.
No qualified, reputable plastic surgeon would advise his or her patients to forgo a healthy diet and exercise in favor of liposuction and body shaping procedures. Exercise and diet, along with other healthy lifestyle choices, serves not only to shape the body aesthetically, but to contribute to the overall health and well-being that every doctor wants for his or her patients.
But even the best workout routine and healthiest diet can’t do everything. And for those last few problems, cosmetic surgery can be a valuable tool to help people meet their goals as far as body image and appearance, and can provide additional motivation to maintain the healthy bodies they’ve worked so hard to attain.
Some of the types of problems cosmetic surgery can help solve include the following:
Tightening loose skin due to aging and/or significant weight loss. As anyone who has lost a significant amount of weight can attest, skin isn’t always as resilient as we’d like. Depending on factors such as age and volume of weight lost, the skin doesn’t always bounce back to fit quite right, and will often fall loosely where the greatest fat deposits were before the weight loss. For a person who has put the effort required into losing weight and adopting a healthier lifestyle, such a setback can prove demoralizing. Many might see little point in maintaining their diet and exercise regimen if they can’t show off their new, firm bodies. In cases such as this, procedures to remove the excess and tighten the appearance of the skin might be just the thing to help keep a person on the right track to maintaining their new body for life.
Bringing the body into proportion. All too often, even the best of regimens can’t go far toward establishing the patient’s ideal body proportions. For example, if a patient is obese and pear-shaped, odds are good that, even after losing weight and exercising, she’ll end up shaped like a smaller, firmer pear. In such cases, body shaping procedures can reward the patient with a new, more aesthetically pleasing body shape, providing her with additional motivation to continue the regimen and permanently maintain her new healthy lifestyle.
Reducing or eliminating stubborn fat deposits. Even many thin, healthy people have stubborn deposits of fat in various places, which can make them feel self-conscious and helpless. For some, no amount of diet and exercise can eliminate that last five pounds of unwanted fat in their belly, their thighs, or elsewhere. For someone who has worked long and hard establishing a healthy routine–exercising regularly and adopting a healthy diet–those stubborn deposits of fat that just won’t go away can prove very disheartening. In cases such as this, a cosmetic surgeon can often help his or her patient over that last, seemingly insurmountable hurdle.
Even beyond such body-shaping measures, many people might be further motivated by cosmetic surgery procedures as a sort of reward for their hard work and continued efforts. While health should be the ultimate goal, there is no denying that the ‘makeover’ factor is a significant one. As such, some patients might choose to reward themselves with a chemical peel, facial reshaping, or something similar for reaching their fitness goals.
So while cosmetic surgery is no replacement for living a healthy lifestyle, it can often help supplement a sensible diet and regular exercise by bringing a healthy body into the desired proportions and smoothing out those minor irregularities that can make even the healthiest and fittest person lose motivation and feel unattractive.
