Modern alternatives to liposuction have been appearing in the cosmetic surgery world for several years, changing the way we can have our bodies sculpted forever. While older techniques meant a lot of recovery time and the occasional horror story, newer techniques are significantly safer with a lot less recovery time required.

Tumescent liposculpture - a technique involving the infusion of a saline and lidocaine mixture into the area being treated - has led to practically pain-free procedures being performed. With the addition of an ultrasound probe to break up the fat with ultrasonic waves, the tumescent Vaser liposelection technique has quickly become one of the most popular methods of body sculpture with cosmetic surgeons today.

Unlike older procedures, which rely on the cosmetic surgeon's skill to ensure that no other body tissues are disturbed, the Vaser ultrasound waves break down only the fat, leaving other vital areas undisturbed. Naturally that aids recovery time and significantly decreases the chances of anything going wrong during the surgery. The emulsified fat is then aspirated out of the body.

The wonderful thing about Vaser liposuction is that it can be performed under local anesthetic and therefore the recovery time is much lower. A compression garment will still need to be worn, but because of the ultrasound technique used in the tumescent lipo, the skin tends to shrink back to fit the newer, sculpted body much more quickly and easily.

Bruising is also kept to a minimum with the new vaser lipo technique. This is because the ultrasound only targets the fat, and this is far gentler on the body. This means fewer blood vessels are disturbed, so there is a reduction in the amount of bruising.

Another good reason to opt for Vaser over other liposuction techniques is that the tumescent procedure can theoretically remove more unwanted fat than earlier types of surgery. Naturally, liposuction is never an alternative to weight loss - being a body contouring process - but the Vaser method can nevertheless be successfully used to sculpt away unwanted pockets of fat very successfully.

Vaser Hi Def liposculpture is one step beyond this, being more suited to very fit individuals who require more definition to the appearance of their musculature. This is in fact, and illusion. Used on both men and women, a highly skilled cosmetic surgeon can use the Hi Def Vaser technique to literally 'sculpt' small pockets of fat into what look like defined muscles.