"Does Liposuction Improve Body Image and Symptoms of Eating Disorders?", American Society of Plastic Surgeons, July 2015.
When you look good, you feel good, and feeling good can have healthy consequences for your body and mind. That was the takeaway of a study conducted by Finnish doctors and researchers evaluating the impact of liposuction on patients’ eating habits and body satisfaction. Cosmetic surgeons like Dr. A.H. Nezami, who performs liposuction at the Jacksonville Cosmetic Surgery Center, have long recognized that the way patients feel about their appearance has a direct and sometimes intense mental and emotional impact. However, this is the first official study linking liposuction with a reduction in eating disorders.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ Volume 3, Issue 7, and titled “Does Liposuction Improve Body Image and Symptoms of Eating Disorders?” was based on the impact liposuction had on 61 women with an average age of 44 and an average body mass index (BMI) of 26.0. The patients underwent their liposuction procedure at the Plastic Surgery Hospital KL in Helsinki under the guidance of the Surgical Ethics Research Committee of the Pirkanmaa Hospital District. Specifically, the liposuction focused on patients’ abdominal and/or thigh area, and patients involved in the research were discharged the day of the procedure, though they were asked to wear compression garments for four weeks following the procedure.
Researchers tracked the patients’ body image prior to and after surgery utilizing an eating disorder inventory, a modification of the Beck depression inventory, and the 15-dimensional general quality of life questionnaire. These diagnostic research tools are detailed. Specifically, the eating disorder inventory the researchers utilized contains 64 questions divided into eight categories, tracking drive for thinness, bulimia, body dissatisfaction, ineffectiveness, perfectionism, interpersonal distrust, interoceptive awareness, and maturity fears. The modified depression inventory has been utilized in Finland for nearly three decades and relies on 13 questions to help evaluate depression and 1 question regarding anxiety, resulting in an overall depression score between 0-39. The final, 15-dimensional questionnaire addressed breathing, mental function, speech, vision, mobility, usual activities, vitality, eating, elimination, sleeping, distress, discomfort, sexual activity, and depression. Suffice it to say, the researchers assigned to the liposuction study were thorough.
“As far as we know, there are no prospective studies with standardized instruments providing sufficient data regarding the effects of aesthetic liposuction on various aspects of quality of life,” the study reports. “Nevertheless, publications on the effects of eating habits are lacking.”
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their life and the question of whether aesthetic procedures like liposuction could significantly boost people’s confidence, minimizing or eliminating eating disorders, had largely gone unanswered. The study notes that other aesthetic procedures, like abdominoplasty and breast augmentation, have been linked to a lower risk for eating disorders and an increase in confidence and quality of life. However, researchers were specifically interested in whether liposuction alone could help improve patients’ self-image and quality of life.
The researchers follow-up phase concluded that liposuction patients’ self-confidence did, indeed, improve, and that patients were at an overall lower risk of developing an eating disorder after the procedure. Prior to liposuction, 53% of patients reported an abnormal drive for thinness and 56% reported dissatisfaction with their bodies, and in the follow-up questions this number was significantly reduced to 19%.
Researchers are planning additional studies with lengthier follow-up times to expand on their learnings from this first study.
Dr. A.H. Nezami has performed more than 16,000 cosmetic surgeries and procedures, including liposuction, during his 31 years in private practice at the Jacksonville Cosmetic Surgery Center. He is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Greater Jacksonville Society of Plastic Surgeons, and the Duval County Medical Society. Despite his many years of experience conducting procedures including liposuction, Dr. Nezami strives constantly to improve his work, utilizing the most advanced technologies and procedures currently available.
