Is the new Smart Lipo really better?  If you tour the before-and-after photos of doctors who perform traditional liposuction, you see lots of bruising and read about long recovery times.  Traditional lipo requires general anesthesia (a huge risk factor), while Smart Lipo infuses only the area to be treated with a saline solution containing a local anesthetic.  So the new Smart Lipo laser has been shown to have fewer risks and side effects, shorter recovery times, and the additional benefit of stimulating collagen that will grow and tighten skin for several months after surgery. Especially when combined with Vaser liposelection, Smart Lipo allows the doctor to remove fat more uniformly with fewer skin dimples, less bleeding, and less bruising.  How?   The small laser instrument used in Smart Lipo dissolves the fat rather than sucking it out, so it can be drained away naturally by the body instead of “vacuumed.”   The laser causes blood to coagulate immediately on contact, resulting in less swelling and bruising.  Use of the Vaser along with Smart Lipo supposedly scoops up any fat deposits left after the laser.  I saw some really attractive results on chins, erasing those turkey giblets hanging around under there, and restoring that actual curve that used to be there before the folds took over.  Saddle bags on the thighs and hips seemed to be the next most popular target, followed by the love handles just above a man’s waist.   I’m a little skeptical of the photos that show the disappearance of the belly that “done-lap” over the waistband of the pants, but who knows, it could happen without dieting and exercise.  That would be nice.  Go on vacation, gain six pounds, come home and have it lasered off.  Or the resort or cruise ship would offer it as a special option the night before you head home, so you show up at the office looking like you went to a spa and exercised instead of ordering every entrée on the menu and pigging out.   As in all procedures plastique, the doctor holding the laser should not be practicing this new technique on you.  You don’t want to be the first sucker she practices on after that weekend seminar in Phoenix.  So talk, ask, and insist on reassuring yourself that the doctor has done this hundreds, if not thousands, of times on other people.