What is liposuction?
Liposuction (lipo) removes fat through a thin cannula inserted through incisions a few millimeters long, after a tumescent solution has numbed the area and limited bleeding. It is shaping rather than weight loss: the fat cells removed do not come back, and the result lasts as long as your weight stays stable. It does nothing to skin or muscle, which is why Dr. Cat is direct at the consultation about when loose skin or separated muscles mean a tummy tuck is the right operation instead; our tummy tuck vs liposuction comparison explains the pinch test she uses.
Areas Dr. Cat treats
- Upper and lower abdomen (counted as two areas), and the mons pubis
- Flanks, hips and the upper, mid and lower back; together with the abdomen, that is lipo 360
- Chin and neck (one area), often awake under local anesthesia
- Arms, inner and outer thighs, knees, calves and ankles
- The bra roll, and the buffalo hump, the area of the upper back that causes a hunched-back appearance
Who is a good candidate for liposuction?
You may be a good candidate if
- You are close to your goal weight, within about 20 pounds, and want specific areas reshaped rather than weight removed
- The fat is firm and pinchable: love handles, a muffin top, inner thighs, a double chin, the bra roll
- Your skin is firm enough to retract over the new contour
- You live a moderately healthy life and your weight is stable
- Your expectations are realistic: a smaller, more contoured version of the shape you have, with smooth and natural transitions
Liposuction is the wrong operation if
- The skin is loose and draping rather than the fat being firm: suctioning fat from loose skin leaves it looser, and a tummy tuck is the right surgery
- Your abdominal muscles have separated after pregnancy (diastasis recti), or you have a hernia
- You are looking for weight loss: the law limits removal to five liters in one session, and a large case is planned as lipo 360 with the rest staged
- There is not enough fat to remove; Dr. Cat has turned patients away for that reason. Integrity is the number one value in our practice
Read our guide to love handles, muffin top and stubborn fat for what liposuction changes area by area, including a double chin, arm fat and FUPA.
How Dr. Cat does it
Dr. Cat is a board-certified plastic surgeon, trained in both head and neck surgery and plastic and reconstructive surgery, Harvard-educated and UCLA trained, and she treats liposuction as sculpture rather than fat removal. This is not just surgery, this is art. Every pass of the cannula is hers, and these are the decisions behind her results.
Tumescent and power-assisted liposuction, no heat devices
Dr. Cat uses tumescent liposuction: a saline solution with lidocaine and epinephrine is infused into the area first, which numbs the tissue, constricts the blood vessels and makes the fat easier to remove with minimal blood loss. In most areas she uses power-assisted liposuction, a vibrating cannula that blends the treated areas more evenly. She has developed a multi-stage technique: the fat is gently broken up into tiny particles, then removed with thin cannulas precisely and evenly, following a precise, artistic grid in which she counts every stroke, then blended a final time for a smooth and natural look.
She does not use laser lipo, SmartLipo, Vaser, J-Plasma, AirSculpt, Renuvion or other heat devices: she has seen the burns, the uneven results and the scar tissue they leave. She performs natural-looking ab etching without injuring the tissues or the skin.
A thin cushion of fat, on purpose
Over-suctioning causes most of the bad liposuction Dr. Cat repairs in her revision liposuction practice: take too much and the skin sticks to the muscle underneath, leaving dents, ridges and folds. Large, aggressive cannulas cause fibrosis and scar tissue. Dr. Cat uses a gentle fat removal technique with thin cannulas, performed precisely and symmetrically, and leaves a thin, even cushion under the skin so the surface stays smooth, the skin moves naturally over the muscles, and every area blends into the next, perfectly contoured.
Anesthesia and the surgery day
Depending on the areas, Dr. Cat recommends general anesthesia with a board-certified physician anesthesiologist, IV sedation, or local anesthesia for small, isolated areas; patients who prefer to stay awake can have awake liposuction. After she reviews the plan and marks the treatment areas in detail, the surgery takes about an hour and a half for a single small area and about five hours for lipo 360. This is not a liposuction factory where patients are stacked back to back: Dr. Cat takes her time to meticulously contour and shape each patient, performing only one larger surgery (lipo 360 or revision liposuction) or two smaller liposuction surgeries a day. One or two areas are a same-day surgery: you go home with someone to stay with you. Lipo 360 and larger operations include the first night in a plastic surgery aftercare center.
Liposuction at Dr. Cat Plastic SurgeryLipo 360 and combinations
Lipo 360
Lipo 360 treats seven areas in one surgery, the upper and lower abdomen, the flanks, the hips and the upper, mid and lower back, so the contour is continuous all the way around instead of a flat stomach with untouched sides. It suits patients with firm skin who want a smaller waist from every angle and the maximum hourglass effect, and with Dr. Cat it is a $45,500 to $52,500 surgeon's fee, with the operating room and anesthesia quoted at your consultation. "Full body liposuction" is a marketing phrase, not a procedure: safe fat removal in one session is limited, so Dr. Cat plans large cases as lipo 360 and stages the rest on another day when more is needed.
Liposuction with fat transfer
The fat Dr. Cat harvests can be used. Liposuction with fat transfer to the buttocks and hips is a Brazilian butt lift, a $56,500 to $63,500 surgeon's fee; lipo 360 with fat transfer to the breasts is a natural breast augmentation, also a $56,500 to $63,500 surgeon's fee; and fat transfer to the hips treats hip dips. In Dr. Cat's experience more than 80 to 90 percent of the transferred fat survives, which is why her patients rarely need a second round. Our liposuction vs BBL comparison explains which you need.
Liposuction with a tummy tuck
Conservative liposuction of the love handles or the mons pubis can be performed with a tummy tuck, at $6,500 to $7,500 per area or $3,500 for the mons, in surgeon's fees. Dr. Cat does not perform 360-degree liposuction in the same surgery as a tummy tuck, because suctioning the fat that carries the blood supply to the lifted abdominal skin risks skin and fat necrosis; when both are needed, she stages them on separate days. A BBL is never performed on the same day as a tummy tuck or a breast augmentation.
Liposuction recovery
Dr. Cat's technique is the reason recovery is quick: little bruising, little to no pain, and a natural, blended contour that refines over the following months. What to expect:
- The day of surgeryYou are up and walking within a few hours. One or two areas go home the same day with someone to stay with you; lipo 360 spends the first night in the aftercare center.
- The first weekMost patients return to desk work within a few days. There is minimal soreness for a few days, managed with Tylenol for most patients. A custom-measured compression garment plus foam is placed immediately at the end of the surgery.
- Six weeksThe garment and foam are worn for six weeks. As the body heals, they support the skin as it tightens and heals smooth and flat. Because Dr. Cat removes the fat in a precisely even and meticulous way, there is no need for lymphatic massage, and she advises against painful lymphatic massages for her patients.
- Three to six monthsSwelling continues to resolve and the contours refine over three to six months. A balanced diet and regular activity amplify the result, because the fat cells that remain can still grow with weight gain. Scars are a few millimeters long; Dr. Cat closes them meticulously and prescribes scar treatments so they fade to almost nothing.
Risks and safety
Liposuction is safe in trained hands, but performing it precisely and perfectly takes immense expertise and care. Dr. Cat reviews the risks with every patient before surgery, and she tracks the anesthetic and the volume removed throughout, in a QUAD A accredited surgery center.
What can go wrong
- Bleeding, a hematoma or a seroma (a fluid collection), and infection
- Dents, ridges, waves and asymmetry from uneven or over-aggressive suctioning: the results that fill revision liposuction practices
- Loose skin after the fat is gone, when the skin was not firm enough to retract
- Numbness or altered sensation, usually temporary, and swelling that lasts months
- Fat or skin necrosis, and burns with heat-based devices (which Dr. Cat does not use)
- Anesthesia reactions, blood clots, and, historically, complications from large volumes (over five liters) or too much local anesthetic; these are now rare
How Dr. Cat reduces these risks
- Every pass by Dr. Cat herself, blending each area into the next and leaving a thin cushion of fat under the skin
- Her multi-stage technique with thin cannulas, never large aggressive ones: every area mapped precisely, each stroke counted in each section and from each incision rather than a random pattern, for a blended contour with no irregularities
- Tumescent liposuction with the anesthetic dose and the volume removed tracked carefully with the anesthesiologist, within the five-liter limit; large cases staged
- Careful patient selection: firm skin, a stable weight, and a tummy tuck instead when skin or muscle is the problem
- A physician anesthesiologist in an accredited facility, and no heat-based devices
- A compression garment for six weeks, no painful massages, and follow-up visits through the months the contour refines
How much does liposuction cost in Beverly Hills?
Dr. Cat's surgeon's fee for liposuction is $10,000 for a single area on its own, and $6,500 to $7,500 per area when two or more areas are treated in one surgery, adjusted for your BMI and the amount of fat. The operating room and the board-certified physician anesthesiologist are quoted at your consultation, once Dr. Cat has examined you and set the operating time your surgery needs: operating time varies with your anatomy and with the areas treated together, so it is set by her, not by a price list. Surgeon's fees are typical ranges: a more complex case can cost more, and your fee is set at your consultation and is final only in your written quote. Lipo 360 is a $45,500 to $52,500 surgeon's fee. Liposuction with fat transfer to the buttocks and lipo 360 with natural breast augmentation are each $56,500 to $63,500, and revision liposuction with fat grafting is $60,500 to $95,000, in surgeon's fees. The quote is itemized and includes your first compression garment and every follow-up visit.
For context, published national averages for liposuction run from about $6,380 to $15,000, figures that leave out much of what a quote contains and average every surgeon in every market treating a single area. The premium over a volume clinic buys the artistically shaped, even, natural contour that liposuction is supposed to produce. Practices that perform multiple rushed surgeries a day, or where the surgery is delegated, often leave permanent scar tissue and disfigurement, and correcting a bad result costs far more than having it done well the first time. Our liposuction cost guide prices every area and explains what moves the quote.
Consultation fee and financing
The consultation with Dr. Cat is $500, or $1,500 for a revision, credited in full toward your surgery; out-of-town patients can start by video. To pay over time, the practice partners with Cherry, its primary financing partner, and also accepts CareCredit and Alphaeon Credit; see financing and payment plans. Liposuction is cosmetic and is not covered by insurance.
Revision liposuction
Revision liposuction to repair work from other surgeons is one of the most common surgeries Dr. Cat performs. Over-suctioned areas leave dents and painful stuck-down areas that must be filled with fat grafting, uneven removal causes irregularities and residual bulges of fat, aggressive heat devices create burns or scarred areas of skin, and large cannulas create ridges that show through clothing. The disfigurement from poorly performed liposuction is devastating to patients. Dr. Cat has developed a special revision liposuction with fat grafting technique that gently works through scar tissue, smooths irregularities and evens the contour. It is a highly specialized, technically advanced skill, $60,500 to $95,000 in surgeon's fees, quoted individually based on complexity after Dr. Cat has examined you. She has helped many patients who felt hopeless after their first surgery reclaim their confidence and feel whole again.
Your consultation with Dr. Cat
It starts with a free 15-minute discovery call with our Patient Concierge. At the consultation, in person on Rodeo Drive or by video with photos, Dr. Cat listens to what bothers you, examines each area with the pinch test, tells you whether liposuction or a tummy tuck is the right operation, and builds the plan: which areas, which anesthesia, whether the fat should be transferred, and what to expect through recovery. You leave with an itemized written quote and, once you are scheduled, your pre-operative guidelines.
