Losing money and getting sick when rushing to get liposuction for Tet

The facility's staff advised that "it only takes 1-2 hours of surgery to have the perfect waistline to wear any Tet outfit", without the need for months of dieting or exercising. Eager to have a slim figure without spending much time and effort, a girl in Dan Phuong spent 100 million VND on liposuction and tummy tuck at the end of October.

A week after the procedure, her upper abdomen began to harden. When she responded to the medical staff, the woman received the answer "be patient and wait a little longer, and massage your abdomen to soften it."

A month later, many lumps appeared in the abdomen. Worried, the patient went to Hanoi Medical University Hospital for examination. The doctor said that the patient's abdomen was deformed, the skin color had changed, and there was a fibroid tumor in the abdomen due to a previous infection. The deformed masses in the abdominal wall caused pain, discomfort, and affected aesthetics. The doctor had to remove the fibroid masses, clean the abdominal tissues, and restore muscle tension, fat, and skin of the abdominal wall.

Similarly, a 30-year-old woman in Tay Ho also spent VND150 million on liposuction and had a perfect figure after 15 days as promised by the spa. After that, she experienced complications of pain, redness due to fluid accumulation and infection. "The patient had complications due to improper surgery that destroyed the lymphatic system," said Dr. Do Thi Thu Hien, Central Dermatology Hospital. The patient was then treated with incisions, cleaning, and anti-inflammatory antibiotics. The doctor said it would take a long time to recover.

Weight loss is a "lucrative" beauty market and attracts many customer groups. Among them, liposuction and abdominoplasty is the preferred service. Two months before Tet, this demand doubled, according to records from major cosmetic hospitals. Doctor Nguyen Dinh Minh, Head of the Department of Cosmetic and Maxillofacial Surgery, E Hospital, said that there are liposuction and abdominoplasty surgeries almost every day, especially on weekends.

The reason is that women want to "touch up" and beautify themselves for Tet and important events. During this period, cool weather is also a favorable condition, helping wounds heal faster and reducing pain.

There are three main customer groups, including women after giving birth, with loose, wrinkled skin, belly fat, and sagging, who exercise but do not improve. The second group is young people with belly fat due to unscientific eating, even though they have not given birth. The third group is middle-aged women who have given birth, have accumulated a lot of fat but do not have time to exercise, and want to shape up to have a more beautiful, youthful figure.

"However, liposuction is not a viable option in all cases," said Dr. Minh, advising women not to rush into beauty treatments, thereby ignoring safety principles when choosing a facility to perform the procedure.

Liposuction is the use of tools and liposuction rods to remove excess fat in the deep layers. Doctors use advanced technology to better liquefy fat such as vibration waves, ultrasound waves, water injection, high frequency waves, water jets...

This technique is contraindicated for people with severe cardiovascular disease, severe blood clotting disorders or those who are being treated with anticoagulants that cannot be stopped (in case of heart valve replacement, atrial fibrillation, deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary thromboembolism). Pregnant women; people with diseases that affect the wound healing process such as some infectious diseases or diabetes are also not allowed to have the procedure.

People who are in poor physical condition or have undergone a recent diet; people with a history of abdominal surgery or cesarean section should be cautious. Obese patients with a BMI > 30 are at higher risk of complications and death due to the large volume of liposuction.

The maximum recommended amount of fat to be removed is about 5-6% of body weight, equivalent to about 4-5 liters of fat in one session. Ideally, only 2-3% of body weight should be removed at a time.

Sharing the same view, Dr. Cao Ngoc Duy, Deputy Head of the Department of Maxillofacial Aesthetics, Duc Giang General Hospital, Hanoi, said that liposuction is not a minor surgery, but is classified as a major surgery. The most common complications are drug shock, anaphylactic shock, and anesthesia poisoning. Customers also face the risk of complications after liposuction due to fat embolism or blood vessels blocked by fat.

The reason is that the liposuction process usually takes place in one to one and a half hours, but is extended to three or four hours at inexperienced spas and beauty salons. At that time, the blood vessels are damaged, the microvessels are dilated, the fat cells are sucked back into the blood vessels, traveling throughout the body, if they go to the brain, it will cause a stroke, if they go to the heart, it will cause heart failure, if they go to the lungs, it will cause edema and death.

In addition, the abdominal area has more large blood vessels and a larger area than the biceps and calves, so the amount of medicine injected is greater and the possibility of damage is also higher. Liposuction that does not meet standards can also lead to inflammation, infection, and even death.

Like a 47-year-old woman in Ho Chi Minh City who had difficulty breathing after a day of liposuction and abdominoplasty at Kangnam Saigon Cosmetic Hospital. In June, a 31-year-old woman suffered a stroke due to a fat embolism after liposuction of the abdomen and fat grafting to the forehead and temples at Nguyen Anh Cosmetic Institute. In May, a 64-year-old woman fell into a coma after two days of liposuction, excess eyelid skin removal, and breast implant replacement at Tan Hung Hospital. She was treated for more than a month but did not survive.

Doctors recommend that beauty treatments take time, follow doctor's instructions, do not rush and use poor quality services. When beautifying, women need to consult experts, choose reputable beauty facilities to ensure safety. Do not follow trends, choose reasonable beauty services, suitable for your age... to avoid "losing money, getting sick". Do not choose cheap services, advertised widely, "accidentally become a fat bait", bring disaster to yourself.

In case of complications after beauty treatment at a private facility, women should go to the hospital immediately, not self-treat or return to the beauty facility, and only seek medical help when the situation becomes serious. This mistake makes the patient's condition worse, more difficult to recover, and more expensive.