There have been lots of horror stories of botched liposuction procedures in the popular media. There is no doubt that with any cosmetic procedure there can be complications, but we need to put into perspective whether liposuction is really dangerous, or not.

There are quite a number of things that, historically, have put people off liposuction when they might have otherwise considered going ahead with the procedure. There are several factors at play when liposuction goes bad. Sometimes an infection can set in and cause problems. Occasionally the cosmetic surgeon can over-do an area, leading to an uneven result. This can usually be put right by one of the fat grafting techniques now available.

Luckily though, less and less liposuction horror stories are surfacing due to newer liposuction technologies becoming available to cosmetic surgeons. At the forefront of this new wave of lipo technologies are Smartlipo and Vaser Liposelection.

Both Smartlipo and Vaser Liposelection are safe enough to sculpt the smaller delicate areas such as the face and under the chin. Smartlipo uses laser technology to liquefy the fat, and in the hands of a trained, experienced cosmetic surgeon, has a very good safety profile.

Vaser Liposcupture is based on a different technology than Smartlipo. V.A.S.E.R. is an acronym which means Vibration Amplification of Sound Energy at Resonance. Simply put, Vaser utilizes ultrasound energy to break the fat down into tiny particles which can then be suctioned out. The real breakthrough as far as Vaser Liposelection is concerned is the 'selectivity' factor. Instead of relying solely on the surgeon's skill to accurately detect the difference between fat and other tissues, the ultrasound only targets fat, not blood vessels, connective tissue or any other structures in the body.

The real breakthrough advance with Vaser Liposelection is that the ultrasound leaves healthy, vital tissues like blood vessels and muscles alone. This in turn leads to much less blood loss and a shorter recovery time. Even better, the incisions are very small indeed, so in time, scars are usually only barely visible.

Often the risks associated with general anesthesia are avoided altogether, as these procedures can be performed using only local anesthesia, accompanied with light sedation.

It is usual for your cosmetic surgeon to prescribe an oral antibiotic to prevent any risk of infection as, even though Smartlipo and Vaser are more advanced liposuction technologies, the body has still been through trauma, and needs to be given the best conditions in which to heal.

So, even though all cosmetic surgeries carry an element of risk, liposuction is not as dangerous as the popular media has made it out to be.