If your procedure is not too extensive - that is, if no more than one litre of fat and fluid will be removed - liposuction can be performed under local anaesthesia, which numbs the area, combined with a sedative to make you drowsy. You'll be awake but relaxed, and will feel minimal discomfort.

Some surgeons may instead use an epidural block, similar to the anaesthesia used in childbirth.

If we do plan to suction a large area, or to treat several sites, you'll probably have general anaesthesia. In that case, you'll sleep through the operation.