What is Tickle Lipo or Tickle Liposuction?

Dr. Kenneth Hughes, Harvard-trained, board-certified plastic surgeon in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, has performed thousands of liposuction and liposuction revision procedures.  He has seen a multitude of liposuction technologies introduced over the last several decades.

Tickle liposuction or nutational infrasonic liposuction (NIL)  relies upon an air stream and the motion of the cannula itself to help remove fat.  Once again, tickle liposuction has the final common pathway of removing fat under pressure from vacuum suction.  This type of liposuction involves no type of heat or laser like smart lipo or laser lipo or vaser lipo or ultrasonic liposuction.

Some doctors and patients report that this method of liposuction makes the patient more comfortable.  However, this is done with local anesthetic to numb the areas, so it is really similar to any existing form of liposuction.  Remember also that local anesthesia is appropriate for smaller areas of liposuction and may be inappropriate for larger procedures or for revision liposuction due to scarring issues.

In addition, the risks of tickle lipo are comparable to those of any other liposuction treatment. There is a risk of an uneven result and damage to surrounding tissues.  Once again, it is always the skill of the liposuction surgeon and not the tickle liposuction equipment which makes for the best result.  There are so many of these different liposuction modalities marketed that patients are much better off identifying the surgeon with the most skill to make the results a reality.

The truth is that outstanding results in liposuction are achieved by a plastic surgeon who is able to liposuction in a perfectly uniform fashion.  The reason for lumps, bumps, and dents after liposuction has much to do with uneven flaps, though patient compliance and fluid collection can occasionally result in less than optimal results as well.

Dr. Kenneth Hughes uses tumescent liposuction in all cases so that patients are not injured by the energy containing forms of liposuction like vaser or laser liposuction.  Many of these technologies will destroy the fat cells as well and will render the fat unusable for fat transfers like the Brazilian buttlift.