There are several reasons why the number of obese and elderly patients receiving liposuction is on the rise. For one, more advanced liposuction devices paired with safer anesthesia have reduced the risks of liposuction in these patients.
Additionally, obesity is becoming more prevalent across the developed world, leading more people to seek liposuction as a temporary weight reduction technique. Moreover, an increase in life expectancy has influenced many older people to want to look slimmer and more fit. In addition to these factors, there are many single individuals, especially older people, who want a more aesthetically pleasing body to attract potential partners.
In the past, liposuction was reserved for patients who were relatively young, healthy, and had small areas of concern that diet and exercise would not address. The main reason liposuction was limited to healthy patients was because health risks would increase with older or obese patients, as well as anyone with medical conditions.
However, new liposuction devices make surgery less invasive while minimizing bleeding and swelling, as well as reducing many of the other risks previously associated with liposuction. This, combined with the fact that, nowadays, patients rarely need to be put under complete general anesthesia to undergo the procedure. These factors have made liposuction safer for many patients, including and especially for those who are overweight or older.
