External vs Internal Laser Liposuction

Everyone is advertising Laser Liposuction these days and there are actually two types of Laser Liposuction: External Laser Liposuction and Internal Laser Liposuction.

External Laser Liposuction only uses a laser on top of the skin and doesn’t go thru the skin internally into the fat layer with the laser cannula. Examples of External Laser Liposuction are Coolsculpting and Zerona. These are the least invasive techniques to remove fat, but they are less effective than the other liposuction procedures (because they don’t actually suction out the unwanted fat).

Internal Laser Liposuction is a subset of Tumescent Liposuction and examples of Internal Laser Liposuction include Slimlipo, Smartlipo, and other similar lasers. With Internal Laser Liposuction there are small skin incisions and after numbing the area, the surgeon will actually go into the subcutaneous fat layer and use the laser cannula in that area. After the fat is liquified and the skin is tightened the fat will be suctioned and removed.

Internal Laser Liposuction is more effective than External Laser Liposuction because the laser cannula is making more direct contact with the subcutaneous fat and because the liquified fat is actually suctioned out and removed from the body.

While both share the name Laser Liposuction, the two techniques are actually quite different and have very different results.