Smartlipo™ MPX Free Evaluation

Learn about the smartest laser technique available for body contouring, sculpting and liposuction.

Receive a free evaluation from our Smartlipo coordinator and find out if this procedure is right for you.

You will also learn how Dr. Scarpidis will address your concerns and if there are other products or services that might best suit your needs.

Submit the form on this page and we will call to schedule your free evaluation.

Location: Chelsea Eye & Cosmetic Surgery,
157 West 19th St. (6-7 Aves.), NYC

or phone 212 727-3717

For more information about Chelsea Eye & Cosmetic Surgery's cosmetic offerings visit: www.chelseaeye.com

Ulysses Scarpidis, MD, MPA, is an innovative plastic surgeon trained in the latest cosmetic surgery techniques. He specializes in Smartlipo, Rhinoplasty, Breast Augmentation, and Necklifts, offering an array of procedures for both men and women. He is known for his aesthetic talent and his caring bed-side manner.

As a clinical investigator for Smartlipo MPX, Dr. Scarpidis was instrumental in developing Smartlipo MPX and is an authority on laser sculpting and liposuction. He presented advanced techniques for the use of this technology at national plastic surgery conferences.

He received his medical degree in New York from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship in Plastic Surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Hackensack University Medical Center where he was chosen to represent his colleagues as Administrative Chief Resident. He is actively involved in many research projects and is recognized for his contributions to the medical community. He has been invited by local and national Plastic Surgery societies to share his research on the aging face and surgical techniques for facial rejuvenation. His work has earned him the New Jersey Society of Plastic Surgery Clinical Poster Competition Award two years in a row.

Dr. Scarpidis is an integral member of the renowned New York City based boutique practice, Chelsea Eye & Cosmetic Surgery Associates (www.chelseaeye.com), providing patients with comprehensive aesthetic and plastic surgery services.

1. What is Smartlipo MPX?

Smartlipo is a revolutionary method of liposuction that permanently removes fat from specific areas of the body. It’s a less invasive form of liposuction, that’s gentler on the body, permanently melts away fat, and tightens the skin.

At Chelsea Eye & Cosmetic Surgery Associates, we can perform this minimally invasive procedure at the office under local anesthesia. With Smartlipo, scars, swelling, bruising, and recovery time are all minimal. Many of my patients return to work the next day.


2. What makes Smartlipo MPX different from traditional liposuction?

Smartlipo significantly differs from traditional liposuction. Smartlipo uses cutting edge technology to revolutionize the way we think about and perform liposuction. Traditional liposuction has been known to occasionally cause lumpy bumpy results (known as the cottage cheese effect), and can injure other tissues making it more painful and therefore requiring general anesthesia. Smartlipo is less invasive and does not require general anesthesia. Also, traditional liposuction doesn’t deliberately improve the quality of the skin or tighten the skin.

Smartlipo MPX is much less invasive and has multiple benefits. Smartlipo uses laser technology to give you a safer, sculpted, and beautiful result. This laser sculpting procedure delivers the energy evenly in each area of the body, melting layers of fat smoothly and destroying those fat cells permanently.

Smartlipo from Cynosure uses advanced technology that keeps the laser from doing too much in one area and not enough in another. This makes melting the fat very even and controlled. The machine specifically records where the laser is working in the body and monitors the temperature in each location.

At the same time, Smartlipo MPX uses a second laser that is specifically designed to tighten the skin. Because the laser is a heat source, it contracts the skin to tighten immediately. So right off the bat you will see your skin looking tighter. And, it’s only going to get better in the months after the procedure. That’s because this kind of laser sculpt activates certain cells in the skin called fibroblasts to produce more collagen. As we know, with age we lose collagen. This is why collagen injections have become so popular. With Smartlipo, your skin is activated to produce its own collagen. The collagen fibers reorient themselves into the correct position over the next few months helping to further tighten the skin.


3. How long before I see the ideal result from Smartlipo?

You see the result right on the table. However, within several hours the treated areas will swell, and you may feel a little bloated. After a week the swelling starts to go down, and that’s when many patients begin to appreciate their results. After a month, many patients feel spectacular because 80% of the swelling disappears and the skin has already tightened significantly. After 3 months, collagen has started to reorient itself and the skin continues to tighten. Many patients are amazed at the improvement and their results are only 80% done; this is when many patients start to show off their newly sculpted bodies.

4. How much weight can an average person expect to lose from Smartlipo?

Both traditional liposuction and Smartlipo are really meant to be forms of body sculpting. Typically we remove several pounds from someone, but that doesn’t necessarily show on the scale because you’re going to have swelling initially. Smartlipo is not a weight loss tool. But patients do lose weight, their clothes fit better, and they commonly go down in clothing sizes.

5. Who is the ideal candidate for Smartlipo?

The ideal candidate for Smartlipo is someone whose weight is stable, who is fit, and who has one or more areas on their body that they are unhappy with. One of my favorite patients at Chelsea Eye and Cosmetic Surgery Associates is a guy who works out daily and has a 6 pack, but he has love handles. He explained that he can go to the gym a little bit longer and lose the love handles. But, when he does that his face gets so thin he looks sick. So he eats more to make his face look fuller, but his love handles come back. He underwent Smartlipo to maintain his ideal weight and lose his love handles. He is extremely pleased with his results.

6. Will the fat come back?

You have a certain number of fat cells, and as you gain weight they become larger. With Smartlipo, you are permanently destroying these fat cells so they will not come back. But, you don’t destroy every single fat cell, only the majority of the cells. The fat cells that are left can gain size, so theoretically you can still get large in the areas where you had Smartlipo. But, if you only gain 10 pounds or so, you probably will not see much difference in those areas.

Also, everyone has a body area that responds first to weight gain. A lot of my patients say fat goes straight to their belly or hips. When you do Smartlipo in those areas, the weight is no longer going to show in those areas first. Proportionally speaking, you now have less fat cells in that area than in other areas of your body. It is really only with significant weight gain that you may see the treated area get large again.


7. What areas of the body get the best results?

The best results are seen in the abdomen (especially the lower part of the abdomen), your flanks (love handles), your neck, your arms, and your thighs (outer and inner).

You can also have the procedure on your knees, ankles, and calves, but these areas will take longer to heal because you put pressure on them every day as you walk, creating more swelling.


8. How long is the procedure?

The procedure can take anywhere from 1-3 hours, and it really depends on your size, number of areas you want treated, and goals. Together we will discover what it is you actually want from the procedure. Is it reduction in size? Is it contouring? Is it taking a little bit from multiple areas to get a better overall image? Once we know these answers, we will customize the procedure to fit your needs and determine how long it will take.

9. Does it hurt?

Most patients would say that it does not hurt although some find it a bit uncomfortable. However, it depends on each individual’s level of comfort. We will give you medication to help you relax along with local anesthesia. The local anesthesia does two things. It constricts the blood vessels to help lessen bleeding and it anesthetizes the area so you won’t really feel anything while I perform Smartlipo.

When I use the laser, you will gradually feel that things are getting hotter and every once in a while there’s a small pinch. Most patients just say, “Oh, I felt that.” I will always offer more pain medication, but most patients say it’s not too bad.

Patients have told me the procedure is less painful than laser hair removal and almost every one of my patients want to have another area done in the future. In fact, I would say about 50% come back for another area to be treated. So, their experience was a pleasant one and they’re happy with their results.


10. Can people go back to their normal lifestyle?

They can go back to work, but they can’t go back to their normal lifestyle immediately. The post -op instructions explain that you must wear a compression garment for a month. And, I don’t recommend people to do any exercise for two weeks. After two weeks you can exercise as long as you don’t involve the area of surgery. The reason for this is that you’ve removed the fat between your muscles and your skin. When you exercise, you keep moving the skin with relationship to the muscle, creating friction. That friction creates swelling and scar tissue. This means you will take longer to heal and your results aren’t going to be ideal. I recommend to at least rest the areas that have had surgery so the healing process is faster. You can go back to work and do routine things, but you just need to take it easy.

You don’t feel sick afterwards, and a lot of my patients go out that night. I had a patient that went out after surgery to a birthday dinner and ate cake. So, it’s not an uncomfortable experience.

11. What if I have already had regular lipo?

I have had several patients who have had regular liposuction in the past and were unhappy with their results. At first, I really didn’t know how successful Smartlipo would be on these patients. But, as it turns out, their results were amazing.

The laser is specifically designed to destroy fat cells and really doesn’t do much to the other tissue. So, the areas of the body that have more fat, have more fat melted away. And, the areas of the body that have less fat, have less fat melted away. The Smartlipo MPX laser simply has advanced technology that creates results that provide a much smoother appearance. And, because the laser tightens the skin, patients have an overall improvement in the area.


12. What makes smartlipo better than other lasers?

Many other lasers are not studied like Smartlipo. Cynosure, the company that makes Smartlipo, is one of the pioneers in this field, and there is a lot of research on how to use it, how to improve on it, and how to get the result that you want. I have participated in many of these studies so I know first hand the results that you can get with it.

I was performing these procedures before the Smartlipo MPX was announced publically, which is about 3 years now. It was introduced to the public about 2 years ago.


13. So can you sum up the benefits of Smartlipo and why your patients like it so much?

Smartlipo is the next generation of body sculpting.  It melts away fat, tightens skin, has less complications, and my patients rave about their results.  In addition to the fantastic results, my patients enjoy that down time is minimal, and the procedure as a whole is much safer than traditional body contouring methods.