Body Contouring
Vaser Liposuction and Renuvion Skin Tightening
Body Contouring with Cho Plastic Surgery Quick Facts:
- Typical recovery time: 1-2 weeks with 3-6 months for final result
- Starting price: $15k
- Dr. Cho specializes in the best minimally invasive technology for best outcomes
- Procedures performed at Spring Ridge SurgiCenter, Reading Surgery Center, and Surgical Institute of Reading (some procedures can be done in the office, awake, without going to surgicenters)
Overview
Achieving your ideal silhouette requires more than just removing stubborn fat, it also depends on the firmness of your skin. At Cho Plastic Surgery, Dr. Cho uses a complete body contouring approach that targets both fat and skin elasticity at the same time. By addressing what lies beneath the surface alongside the skin itself, we help you achieve a naturally smooth, sculpted look.
For precise fat removal, Dr. Cho uses VASER® Liposuction. This advanced system uses gentle sound waves to break up and liquefy stubborn fat before it is removed. Because ultrasound energy targets fat cells specifically, it protects nearby nerves and blood vessels, resulting in less bruising, smoother results, and faster healing compared to traditional liposuction.
To handle loose skin without leaving large surgical scars, Dr. Cho combines liposuction with Renuvion® Skin Tightening. Renuvion delivers controlled helium plasma energy just under the skin to instantly shrink and tighten relaxed tissue. Applied through the same tiny openings used for your liposuction, it helps your skin contract naturally over your new, slimmer frame.
VASER Liposuction - Precision Fat Sculpting
What is VASER Liposuction?
VASER® (Vibration Amplification of Sound Energy at Resonance) is an advanced, ultrasound-assisted liposuction technology designed to selectively target and remove unwanted body fat. Unlike traditional liposuction, which relies primarily on manual physical force to break up fat tissue, VASER uses acoustic wave energy to gently liquefy fat cells before they are drawn out. This high-precision approach allows Dr. Cho to contour delicate areas and sculpt high-definition athletic details with exceptional control.
How VASER Technology Works
During the procedure, the treatment area is first infused with a special tumescent saline solution that numbs the tissues and shrinks local blood vessels. Dr. Cho then inserts a specialized, ultra-thin VASER probe through tiny micro-incisions.
- Targeted Liquefaction: The probe emits high-frequency ultrasonic waves that break down fat cell membranes, turning firm fat deposits into a smooth, liquid emulsion
- Tissue Protection: Because ultrasound energy selectively targets fat cells, vital surrounding structures (including nerves, blood vessels, and healthy connective tissue) remain largely undisturbed
- Gentle Extraction: Once liquefied, the fat is easily and gently suctioned out using a small cannula, resulting in less physical trauma to your body, reduced post-operative bruising, and a smoother, more predictable recovery
Treatment Areas We Sculpt
Because VASER® liposuction offers such fine control, Dr. Cho can use it to treat both large body zones and smaller, delicate areas where stubborn fat resists diet and exercise.
- Abdomen & Waistline: Flatten the stomach and sculpt high-definition abdominal contours
- Flanks & Lower Back: Eliminate "love handles" to create a tapered, balanced midsection (often performed as part of 360° Lipo)
- Upper Arms: Remove stubborn fat along the triceps zone to restore a tighter, toned arm profile
- Inner & Outer Thighs: Reduce saddlebags and prevent uncomfortable inner thigh chafing
- Chin & Neck (Submental Area): Refine the jawline profile and permanently eliminate a double chin
- Chest & Bra Roll: Smooth out localized fat bulges along the bra line, back, or male chest area (gynecomastia)
Renuvion - Subdermal Skin Tightening
What is Renuvion Skin Tightening?
Renuvion® (also known as J-Plasma) is a revolutionary, minimally invasive skin tightening technology that firms loose skin from beneath the surface. It combines cold helium gas with radiofrequency (RF) energy to create a precise stream of dual-thermal plasma. By applying controlled heat directly to the underlying tissue layer, Renuvion causes immediate tissue contraction while stimulating your body to produce fresh collagen over time, all without the need for large surgical incisions.
How Renuvion Works Beneath the Skin
Renuvion is administered through the exact same tiny micro-incisions used during your liposuction procedure, eliminating the need for extra surgical scars.
- Dual-Thermal Energy Delivery: As the Renuvion wand passes beneath the skin, RF energy rapidly heats the targeted connective tissues to the exact temperature needed for maximum collagen contraction
- Instant Helium Cooling: Helium gas instantly cools the treatment area in milliseconds - this rapid heating and cooling cycle protects surrounding skin from thermal damage while ensuring maximum comfort and safety
- Structural Collagen Renewal: The thermal energy triggers an immediate "shrink-wrap" effect on the underlying tissue matrix, and over the next 3 to 6 months your body continues to build new collagen fibers, progressively firming and smoothing your contours.
Key Treatment Areas for Renuvion
Renuvion is ideal for treating mild-to-moderate skin laxity across areas that tend to lose elasticity after fat removal or weight changes.
- Lower Abdomen & Waistline: Tighten residual skin laxity after fat removal to achieve a flat, firm belly without a full tummy tuck incision
- Upper Arms ("Bat Wings"): Firm loose, sagging skin under the arms to restore a toned, youthfully contoured profile
- Inner & Outer Thighs: Smooth crepy skin along the thighs for firmer, more defined legs
- Neck & Jawline: Tighten loose neck skin (often paired with submental chin liposuction) for a sharp, youthful profile
- Bra Roll & Back: Firm relaxed skin along the upper back and waistline.
Why Dr. Cho Combines VASER Lipo with Renuvion
While VASER Liposuction and Renuvion are impressive body-contouring tools individually, pairing them in a single surgical session delivers unmatched aesthetic transformations. Traditional liposuction removes stubborn fat deposits, but it relies entirely on your skin’s natural elasticity to snap back over your new, slimmer shape. If skin laxity is present, fat removal alone can leave behind soft, sagging, or crepy skin.
By combining these complementary technologies, Dr. Cho addresses both fat volume and skin structural integrity simultaneously.
Complete 3D Sculpting & Structural Firming
VASER ultrasound energy first liquefies and gently removes dense subcutaneous fat layers, sculpting the underlying muscle contours. Immediately following fat extraction, Dr. Cho passes the Renuvion plasma wand through the same tissue layer to shrink-wrap the newly relaxed skin matrix directly over your refined contours.
Zero Additional Incisions or Scars
Because Renuvion is administered beneath the skin, Dr. Cho utilizes the exact same tiny micro-incisions created for your VASER liposuction. You receive comprehensive fat reduction and advanced subdermal skin tightening without incurring any extra surgical scars.
A Single Surgical Event & Consolidated Recovery
Combining VASER and Renuvion allows you to achieve surgical-quality skin firming and fat removal under a single anesthesia session. This minimizes total procedure time, reduces facility expenses, and consolidates your recovery downtime into a single, convenient healing window.
Avoiding More Invasive Excision Surgeries
For patients with mild-to-moderate skin laxity who want to avoid the long, prominent scars associated with invasive excision surgeries (such as a traditional tummy tuck or arm lift) the VASER plus Renuvion combination offers a effective, low-scar alternative.
Fat grafting is an additional complimentary procedure that preserves the viability of fat cells to allow for fat grafting to other areas of the body, like the face, breasts, and buttock.
Benefits
- A sculpted, proportional physique
- Enhanced muscle definition
- Improved clothing fit
- Increased self-confidence
- Comprehensive results with minimal scars
- Long-lasting transformations
- Short recovery time
- Less trauma to surrounding tissues, less blood loss, and easier removal of fat with VASER
Risks
- Temporary swelling and bruising
- Temporary sensation changes
- Fluid accumulation (seroma)
- Contour irregularities or asymmetry
- Thermal or skin surface effects
- General surgical risks
All surgery involves some level of risk, and body contouring is no exception. During your consultation, Dr. Cho will review potential risks, answer your questions and explain the steps taken to help reduce complications based on your anatomy, health history, and surgical plan.
Ideal Candidate
- You are physically healthy, and at a stable weight and close to ideal body weight
- You have realistic expectations
- You are a nonsmoker
- You have stubborn, diet-resistant fat
- You have mild-to-moderate skin laxity
- You have a desire for minimal scarring
To help you understand how Dr. Cho tailors treatment to your specific anatomy, here is how our body contouring options compare:
- VASER Liposuction Alone: Ideal for patients with good skin elasticity and isolated pockets of unwanted fat (focuses purely on targeted fat reduction and muscle sculpting with maximum skin snap-back)
- VASER + Renuvion (Dual Approach): Ideal for patients with localized fat plus mild-to-moderate skin laxity (simultaneously removes fat and tightens relaxed skin through tiny micro-incisions with no major scars)
- Surgical Excision (Tummy Tuck / Arm Lift): Ideal for patients with severe hanging skin, major stretch marks, or separated abdominal muscles (surgically removes large amounts of excess skin and repairs underlying muscle structure)
Body Contouring Consultation
- During your body contouring consultation, Dr. Cho will assess your current medical history, including medications, vitamins and herbal supplements you take, alcohol, tobacco, and drug use
- Obtain your weight and height to calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI) to ensure you can undergo body contouring safely
- Listen carefully to your aesthetic concerns and discuss which specific areas of your body (such as the abdomen, flanks, arms, thighs, or neck) you are most interested in targeting
- Perform a physical examination of your areas of concern, taking detailed measurements and evaluating underlying fat distribution, muscle tone, and tissue volume
- Evaluate your skin quality, elasticity, and laxity to determine whether VASER liposuction alone will achieve your goals, if adding Renuvion skin tightening is necessary for maximal skin retraction, or if skin excision is recommended
- Take confidential pre-operative photographs for your medical record and surgical planning
- Formulate a customized surgical strategy designed to achieve the most harmonious, balanced, and natural-looking results for your unique physique
- Review the details of the procedure, including incision placements, anesthesia options, and what to expect during your recovery and compression garment wear
- Discuss the potential risks, safety considerations, and expected outcomes of your personalized body contouring plan
- Provide transparent, itemized pricing and answer any remaining questions to help you feel completely confident in your decisions
Procedure Preparation
- Do not take any blood thinning medications for 1 week before surgery, including aspirin, NSAIDs, ibuprofen/Motrin, naproxen (also, avoid any herbal supplements or vitamins which can prolong bleeding)
- Do not smoke, vape, or take nicotine-containing products before or after your surgery as they can impair the healing process
What to Expect During Surgery
- Upon checking in at our surgical facility, our nursing staff will take your vital signs, review your post-operative care plan, and assist you into surgical attire
- Dr. Cho will meet with you to answer any questions and meticulously place precise anatomical markings on your target areas to map out fat extraction zones and micro-incision sites
- You will be escorted to the surgical suite, where our board-certified anesthesia team will administer anesthesia (typically general anesthesia, depending on the number of areas being treated) to ensure you remain completely relaxed, comfortable, and pain-free throughout the entire operation
- Once you are comfortably asleep or sedated, Dr. Cho makes tiny micro-incisions (typically only a few millimeters long) hidden within natural body creases
- A specialized tumescent saline solution containing a local anesthetic and epinephrine is infused into the target tissue to numb the area, minimize bleeding, and prepare fat cells for removal
- Dr. Cho inserts the specialized VASER probe through the micro-incisions, where the probe emits ultrasonic sound waves that selectively break down fat cell membranes, transforming firm fat deposits into a smooth emulsion while leaving blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissues intact
- Utilizing a delicate suction cannula, Dr. Cho gently vacuums away the liquefied fat cells, carefully sculpting underlying muscle contours and refining your overall silhouette
- Immediately following fat extraction, Dr. Cho passes the Renuvion plasma wand through the exact same micro-incisions beneath the skin
- The tiny micro-incisions are closed with delicate structural sutures or protective steri-strips
- Our team immediately places you into a specialized medical-grade compression garment to support your newly sculpted contours, minimize fluid accumulation, and manage early swelling
- You will wake up gently in our private recovery suite under the direct care of a specialized recovery nurse
- Once your anesthesia has worn off and your vitals are completely stable (usually 1 to 2 hours post-surgery), you will be discharged home
Recovery
- 1-2 weeks, final result can take up to 3 months for swelling to resolve
- During recovery, wear your medical-grade compression garment continuously (24 hours a day) as directed by Dr. Cho to minimize swelling, prevent fluid accumulation, and support your newly sculpted contours as skin contracts
- You will be given specific instructions on how to care for your micro-incision sites after surgery, and how to take prescribed medications to manage discomfort and prevent infection
- It is critical that your surgical treatment areas are not subjected to excessive force, swelling, abrasion, or sudden motion during the healing process
- Avoid lifting anything over 10 to 15 lbs and refrain from strenuous physical activity, cardio, or heavy pushing and pulling for at least 3 to 4 weeks, or until cleared by Dr. Cho
- Do not smoke, vape, or use any nicotine-containing products before or after your surgery, as nicotine restricts blood flow and severely impairs skin healing and tissue survival
- You will typically be allowed to sponge bathe initially, but do not take a full shower or submerge your body in water (tubs, hot tubs, or pools) until specifically cleared by Dr. Cho
- Short, gentle walks around your home are encouraged starting the day of surgery to promote healthy circulation and prevent blood clots
- Attend all scheduled post-operative appointments so Dr. Cho can closely track your long-term results and collagen maturation
FAQs
Body contouring is a precision body-shaping procedure, not a weight loss solution. While VASER liposuction permanently removes targeted fat deposits, fat tissue is relatively light compared to its volume. Most patients see a noticeable change in dress size, silhouette, and body proportions rather than a dramatic drop on the bathroom scale.
VASER + Renuvion is an ideal alternative for patients with mild-to-moderate skin laxity who want to avoid major surgical scarring. However, if you have severe hanging skin, extensive stretch marks, or separated abdominal muscles (diastasis recti), surgical excision via a tummy tuck may still be required. Dr. Cho will evaluate your skin elasticity during your consultation to determine the best approach.
You will notice immediate improvements in your body shape right after surgery, despite initial swelling. As post-operative swelling subsides over the first 4 to 6 weeks, your sculpted definition will become clearer. Renuvion’s collagen-building process continues for 3 to 6 months post-surgery, gradually improving skin firmness and revealing your final, refined profile.
Yes. The fat cells removed during VASER liposuction are permanently eliminated from your body. However, remaining fat cells can still expand if you gain weight in the future. Additionally, Renuvion triggers immediate collagen contraction and long-term collagen synthesis, producing skin-tightening results that last for years. Maintaining a stable weight through a healthy lifestyle ensures your newly sculpted contours remain intact.
Patient Review
I scheduled a consultation with Dr. Cho after she was recommended by a friend. Dr. Cho discussed the procedures I was interested in (upper blepharoplasty, breast augmentation and liposuction with mini tummy tuck). Throughout the process (consultation, pre-surgical, surgery and post surgical) I felt comfortable and confident with Dr. Cho and her staff. Dr. Cho is down to earth and listens to what you are looking to achieve. She will speak truth... See full review
Crystal F. / Liposuction Patient
Surgery is a Big Decision
We are here to answer any questions you have and help you determine the right choice for you. If you are considering surgery, please schedule a consultation with Dr. Cho today. She would be honored to discuss your goals and help you achieve the look you desire.
Financing Available
We believe your aesthetic goals should always be within reach. To make your journey more accessible, we offer payment options through Care Credit and Cherry by Alle, with financing available for same-day treatment. We will be happy to assist you in the application process at the time of your consultation. For more information, contact our office.