One of the risks associated with liposuction is the quick post-surgery accumulation of fat, diminishing the effects of the often painful procedures which people undergo to get rid of excess fat. It seems, however, that scientists may have found a rather simple and yet efficient way to address this particular problem through regular exercise. So, after coming home from their London liposuction clinic, and once they have recovered from the procedure, patients should consider pulling their running shoes on and getting some exercise to maintain the effects of the treatment.

A recent article in the health section of the NY Times reports the results of a study conducted by researchers at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, indicating that to facilitate lasting benefits from liposuction, people need to exercise or they otherwise risk regaining the fat lost during the surgery. Although in principle it seems somewhat obvious that exercise in general helps to keep the fat away, people tend to think that a visit to a London liposuction clinic will solve their excess fat problems for good.

The study examined 36 healthy women, aged from 20 to 35, who were of normal weight, but volunteered to have a couple of pounds of abdominal flab removed by means of liposuction. The study results showed that within the first four months after the surgery, half of the women had not only regained fat, but increased their stores of visceral fat, that is, the fatty tissue which accumulates around internal organs and is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Those women had decreased their everyday activity levels, which according to the researchers had contributed to the gain of the unhealthy visceral fat.

The other half of the women, however, did not experience this adverse post-liposuction effect. Those women had been assigned an exercise program and worked out three times a week for four months following the surgery. In addition to regaining very little fat, if any, those women added no new visceral fat. The study’s authors subsequently concluded that while liposuction could potentially “trigger a compensatory increase of visceral fat”, this undesirable effect could effectively be “counteracted by physical activity”.

Besides hinting at the potential correlation between liposuction and the increased accumulation of visceral fat, the study addresses yet another important issue people who have undergone a liposuction procedure rarely take up exercise. Surgical fat removal procedures are often viewed as a magic solution and a lot of people think that the way to good looks ends as soon as they leave their London liposuction clinic after the surgery. Yet, this is not necessarily the case, with the fat often returning albeit not necessarily in the same areas from which it was surgically removed. Although exercise does not always solve the problem of fat in specific areas (which is often the reason for having liposuction in the first place), it will help maintain the procedure’s results and by this means is likely to reduce the need for any subsequent fat removal procedures.

Of course, any post-surgery physical activity should be exercised with caution, depending on the procedure and the time needed for recovery. What the Sao Paulo study researchers assigned to the trial subjects was walking or jogging on a treadmill and some light weight training. In any case, patients will benefit from talking to a consultant at their London liposuction clinic, who will be able to recommend the most appropriate exercise routine with regards to their situation and physical condition.

While going to a London liposuction clinic is likely to solve the problem of excess fat in areas which do not respond easily to either exercise or diet, patients should remember that a scalpel is not a magic wand. Long-lasting liposuction results therefore depend not only on the skill of the surgeon but also on the efforts and ability of the patient to properly look after his or her own body, with exercise being one of the most effective ways to keep the fat at bay.