Generation X has now discovered liposuction.Dr. Ron Siegle, dermatologic surgeon at The Ohio State University Medical Center, performs liposuction on people ranging in age from 20 to 50. However, most of his patients are in their early 20s and college students make up five percent of his 150 cases a year, Siegle said.’I would suggest the procedure for an adult who has a troubled area of fat that is out of proportion to the rest of their body,’ Siegle said. ‘I would not suggest it as a weight loss procedure.’Only one third of his patients are overweight, while the remaining two thirds are in good shape, Siegle said.’For someone who is health conscious and puts a lot of effort into looking well, this is a safe and nifty way to fix a problem area,’ he said.Liposuction works for localized areas of fat instead of diet and exercise, Siegle said.’If you go on a diet, you can lose total body fat, but you won’t necessarily lose it in the right places,’ he said.In addition, ‘most people think you can exercise away a troubled area, but you can’t at all. There is no exercise that will take that site away and leave the rest of your body the same,’ Siegle said.Cheryl Trevethan, not only Dr. Siegle’s cosmetic nurse, but also a client had two procedures performed after showing no results from diet and exercise.’I dieted so hard and nothing was happening,’ Trevethan said. ‘I would do crunches until I was lightheaded, but it didn’t move the fat pouch.’Trevethan, whose first liposuction was performed in June on her stomach and upper hips and second a month later on her butt and thighs, is pleased with the results.’A week after, I put dockers on and saw pleats in the front. I got tears in my eyes,’ Trevethan said. ‘I’m feeling fabulous and doing things I’ve never done before.’There have also been excellent results with college students, she said.’But this is not an answer to everything,’ Trevethan said. ‘It’s not going to improve your social life. It’s not going to make your boyfriend like you better.’An OSU junior majoring in business who requested to remain anonymous had liposuction performed on her hips for $1,000.The size 4 junior said her hips were ‘a hard area to get rid of.”They were the only part that wouldn’t go away,’ the student said.Three months after the procedure, the student has no regrets.’It definitely makes me feel a lot better about myself. It makes me more confident,’ she said. ‘It’s definitely an easy procedure, but the only downfall is the money.’The traditional liposuction characterized by large incisions, big suction tubes and scarring is becoming a thing of the past, while tumescent liposuction is becoming a common practice, Siegle said.The tumescent technique uses local anesthesia allowing the patient to stay awake during the procedure, rather than general anesthesia, Siegle said.The technique also gives the doctor greater control to create finer results and the patient can leave the doctor’s office about a half hour after the procedure, Siegle said. Although the majority of clients are women concerned about their thighs, abdominals, waist and insides of knees, 10 percent are men concerned about their stomach and love handles, he said.’We have jocks who come in that hate their love handles,’ Siegle said.Some people may have liposuction performed because of a distorted body image or perfectionism, said Dr. Neil Newman, a psychologist at Counseling and Consultation Services.’If your distorting your body image, you may be thin, but you still feel fat,’ Newman said. ‘It could also be that they’re so perfectionist about their body, that they want it so perfect, that it’s not realistic.’ Siegle will be giving a seminar on liposuction Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the University Ramada Hotel, 3100 Olentangy River Road.