Description

Staged Lipedema Surgery in Newport Beach: 60-Year-Old Woman – Leg, Hip, Buttock, Abdomen, and Arm Results Under 2 Months After Her Third Stage

Before Treatment

This 60-year-old woman came to board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. John Larson in Newport Beach, California, with lipedema affecting her legs, hips, buttocks, abdomen, and arms. Because her lipedema involved both her upper and lower body, she needed a staged plan that could reduce the diseased tissue throughout and address the loose skin that reduction leaves behind.

Her main concerns:

• Lipedema of both legs, from the thighs through the calves
• Lipedema of the hips and buttocks, creating a disproportionate lower body
• Lipedema of the abdomen
• Lipedema of the upper arms and forearms, with excess skin of the arms
• Pain, heaviness, swelling, and easy bruising in the affected areas
• Limited mobility that affected her daily activities

Her Surgical Journey

We designed a four-stage plan using power-assisted liposuction, with skin-tightening procedures added where needed for smooth, natural contours. The stages are spaced about two and a half to four months apart, giving her time to recover fully between operations. She has completed three of her four stages.

• Stage 1: Full-leg and hip lipedema liposuction. Power-assisted liposuction of both lower extremities, treating the full length of each leg, along with the hips.
• Stage 2: Arm and abdominal lipedema liposuction with arm and forearm lifts. Power-assisted liposuction of both arms and the abdomen, combined with a brachioplasty (arm lift) and forearm lift to remove excess skin.
• Stage 3: Second-stage leg, hip, and buttock liposuction with thigh and calf lifts. Further power-assisted liposuction of both legs, the hips, and the buttocks, combined with thigh lifts and calf lifts to tighten the skin of the legs after volume reduction.
• Stage 4 (planned): Abdominal liposuction with abdominoplasty and bilateral hip lifts. Power-assisted liposuction of the abdomen combined with an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and lifts of both hips to remove the remaining excess skin of the midsection.

How She’s Doing Now

She is doing well through her first three stages. Her photos were taken less than two months after her third stage, so swelling is still resolving and her leg contours will continue to refine over the coming months.

• Slimmer, more proportionate legs from hip to ankle
• Smoother, tighter contours of the thighs and calves following her lifts
• Reduced volume through the hips and buttocks, with better balance between her upper and lower body
• Slimmer, more defined arms from the upper arm through the forearm
• Improvement in pain, heaviness, swelling, and mobility
• Looking ahead to her final stage for the abdomen and hips

This staged approach is treating her lipedema comprehensively, reducing the affected tissue in her legs, hips, buttocks, abdomen, and arms while tightening the skin, with her abdominoplasty and hip lifts to follow for a balanced, comfortable result.

Common Questions About This Case

How many surgeries does lipedema treatment take?
 It depends on how many areas are affected and how much tissue needs to be removed. This patient has lipedema of the legs, hips, buttocks, abdomen, and arms, and her plan calls for four stages. She completed the first three over about six months.

Why were her legs treated in two separate stages?
 There are limits to how much tissue can be safely removed in a single operation. Treating her legs in two stages allowed us to reduce the lipedema tissue thoroughly while keeping each surgery within safe limits, and the second stage allowed us to add thigh and calf lifts once the volume had been reduced.

How soon are results visible after lipedema surgery?
 Improvement is often visible within weeks, as in this patient’s photos taken less than two months after her third stage. Swelling continues to resolve for several months, so contours typically keep improving well beyond that point.

What is a hip lift, and why is it combined with an abdominoplasty?
 After lipedema tissue is removed from the hips and abdomen, loose skin can remain along the sides of the body. A hip lift removes that excess skin along the flanks, and pairing it with an abdominoplasty allows us to contour the front and sides of the midsection in a single operation.

Surgery performed by John Larson, MD, board-certified plastic surgeon, Larson Plastic Surgery & Medical Aesthetics, Newport Beach, CA. Individual results vary.

60-year-old with lipedema of the legs, hips, buttocks, abdomen, and arms, less than 2 months after the third stage of a four-stage plan: full-leg and hip power-assisted liposuction; arm and abdominal liposuction with brachioplasty and forearm lift; then second-stage leg, hip, and buttock liposuction with thigh and calf lifts. Slimmer, more proportionate contours with improvement in pain, heaviness, swelling, and mobility. Abdominal liposuction with abdominoplasty and hip lifts planned next!