I’m thinking about liposuction

A whole lot of people are indeed doing it. Here’s how to know if it’s right for you

“I fantasize — a lot — about liposuction. I have one friend who did it a few years ago and I’m so envious of her flat stomach. Our kids are both 12 now and my baby belly just isn’t going away. How much would lipo cost?” — Liza, North York

Dear Liza, you are not alone. Who hasn’t been awake at 4 a.m. (not pleased to meet you, COVID insomnia) and focused way too deeply on our perceived flaws? In my middle-of-the-night imagination, lipo is a magic wand of instant gratification.

In the cold light of day, I am of two distinct minds on the subject. On the one hand, I do, passionately, want to walk the talk of body positivity. I want to live in the belief of owning my body, and my face, as they are, being proud of the marks of age (and love for pasta) that make me who I am today and in the future. I desperately want the next generation of women to love themselves and feel good enough as they are, too.

And yet: I simultaneously believe that we each have the right to make our own decisions about our own bodies and what makes us feel good. Celebrities, those ultimate influencers, have brought the stigma of plastic surgery into the light. What was once shrouded in denials and oversized dark sunglasses and scarves tied round the chin (oh dear, I just conjured the image of Gisele Bündchen captured by paparazzi in a burqa a few years ago outside a Paris surgeon’s office, though I suppose her millions rest on the premise she is naturally perfect). But other stars such as Chrissy Teigen, Cardi B, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Fonda, even Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, have all copped to having had lipo. In the end, my primary mantra is: You do you. As for me, I clearly vacillate back and forth on this, so I can’t rule out ever getting a nip or a tuck.

But this is a subject for the professionals: I tapped Dr. Frank Lista, medical director and founder of the Plastic Surgery Clinic in Mississauga. With three decades of experience, Lista and his clinic of docs do the full gamut of cosmetic procedures, and are known especially for liposuction and tummy tucks post-baby, as well as skin reduction surgery after gastric bypass. “Liposuction is the one procedure that fascinates people more than anything,” he says. “The thought of making fat go away: Who doesn’t have a bulge?”

COVID has proven a magic waitingroom filler for plastic surgeons everywhere. The latest figures from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons date to 2018 (when $16.8 billion U.S. was spent in the industry), so we rely on individual doctors for anecdotal evidence, but that is pouring in from the world over. Cosmetic surgeons are enjoying a “Zoom boom” for people looking for solutions to “lockdown face” — flippant terms that seem to have originated in the voracious British tabloid press.

Body work is also on the upswing: COVID has us, on the whole, flabbier, less fit and emotionally challenged from lockdown and loss; wanting to control and change anything we can about ourselves.

The result? “I’m busier than I ever dreamed,” says Lista. “I thought people were going to be afraid or not have any money. It’s exactly the opposite,” he says: for many people, if they are lucky enough to have a job, they’ve saved on dinner out and travel.

We also have plenty of time at home for the “down time,” as the cosmetic enhancement field refers to the recovery period. Plastic surgery involves medical compression garments and other manner of wound dressings and drains. Even non-invasive procedures like lasers and injectables take time to heal the redness and swelling.

So if you make it to the consultation room, what comes next? Lista says talking is the most important part of the process. “First of all, you have to be physically healthy to be a surgical candidate.” Then comes the psychological assessment, where the surgeon matches your expectations with the reality of what they can deliver.

That said, there are lots of people it works well for. He says the classic stomach area is popular, as well as hips, thighs and saddlebags (though it doesn’t fix cellulite). A new area of interest, Lista reports, is in back fat — you know the squishy bit that gets folded up around your bra.

It really doesn’t hurt, Lista says. “There is not a lot of cutting; it’s more like feeling bruised, like banging your leg against a table.” You do have to wear a compression garment for six weeks, though, and the final result is not complete until six to 12 months later. A couple of other provisos from the doc: lipo is only permanent if your weight never changes. “One of the early theories of fat cells is that they never grow back. We learned that is not true. You do not have carte blanche to eat whatever you want, as you will gain weight all over if you do.”

What is the bottom line? For one area, i.e., tummy, he says his base price is about $9,000. The costs — for anesthesia, operating room time, nursing — are fixed. For each region you add on it’s about $1,000. “So the ballpark for lipo,” says Lista, “is roughly $9,000 to $13,000, but everyone gets an individual, written quote.”

Lipo is neither a quick fix nor a cheap one. It all comes back to those pesky expectations. Says Lista: “If you go to a spa, they heat up rocks and put seaweed on your body or dunk you in a mud bath, and you don’t expect much to happen. But if you go to a plastic surgeon, people expect to look like Angelina Jolie when they are done,” he says. But keep your magic-wand fantasies on the realistic side, and you can get good value for the time and money.