Revision Surgery after failed Laser Liposuction

[yoyo123]

Hello doctors,
I hope this finds you well.
I suffer from quite severe gynecomastia and I had laser liposuction to my chest to try to correct this. The procedure did not work. I understand it can be quite tricky to perform a secondary surgery after laser liposuction due to tissue trauma from the laser heat.
How long would you advise a patient to wait before it is safe to do a second procedure? What is the minimum interval and ideal interval between having revision gynecomastia surgery after laser liposuction? 6 months, 1 year, longer?
I am certain that I would need to have skin removed this time round.
Thanks for your help!

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

Sorry to hear about your disappointment after your initial surgery.  Unfortunately, laser lipo is being hyped as the "latest and greatest" and that it deals with "breast tissue as well as fat" and that "it tightens skin as well."  Unfortunately, lasers have no effect on breast tissue and whether there is skin tightening is still yet to be proven. (BTW, skin does tighten with traditional liposuction -- a known fact). And in cases such as yours, the scar tissue resulting from the laser is quite dense and makes any secondary or revision surgery much more difficult.

I would recommend waiting at least 6 months or more after your surgery before considering revision surgery.  And then pick your surgeon very carefully -- a recognized gyne expert in your area, or, consider traveling for that expertise.

Good luck!

Dr Jacobs