Liposuction Post-Op Instructions:

Normal Symptoms: Remember it is normal to experience soreness, bruising, swelling, tightness and some degree of pain for the first few days following surgery. These conditions will lessen each day. You may expect bruising and swelling for a period of weeks after surgery. Gravity usually causes the swelling to migrate down towards your legs. Sometimes even the feet and ankles may swell the first several weeks. It is common to have swelling in the suprapubic region and in the perineum. It is common to have some oozing of a light pink tinged fluid from the incisions. This is normal. Draining usually stops or is minimal by the third day. There may be firm areas and some indentations in the skin for the first few weeks after surgery. This will slowly improve with time. Final results from lipocontouring are seen 6-8 months postoperatively. The firm areas may persist after a few weeks and are treated best with self massage.

Postoperative Care: Rest the night of surgery. Take pain medication as prescribed. You need to be up moving around the day of surgery. You may experience mild to moderate pain for the first two to three days following surgery.

Bathing: Do not shower or bathe until your first postoperative visit which will be in three days. You may take a sponge bath in the areas not covered by the garment.

Driving: Have someone drive you home after surgery. You may drive within the first 24 hours provided you are not taking pain medications.

Activity: You may be as active as your ability permits postoperatively. Walking short distances and being active helps increase healing and decreases swelling. The more active you are, the less discomfort you will have.

Garments: After surgery, you will be placed in a postoperative garment. This will be padded with foam, in order to provide uniform pressure. The garments help the swelling go down faster and encourage better, smoother healing. Please do not remove the garment until we instruct you to do so. We suggest wearing compressive garments for a period of 3-4 weeks after surgery.

Other information: The skin may feel numb, but this will go away between 6-9 weeks after surgery. As the sensation returns you may feel a slight sensation of burning or tingling. Do not be afraid, this is completely normal. The fat cells that are removed are gone forever. However, it is still possible to gain weight. You must maintain a reasonable diet and exercise routine, so that the weight will not come back.

A common concern after liposuction is that if fat is removed in one area, it may be more apparent in the areas that have not been treated. This is not true. If you gain a significant amount of weight you will increase fat deposition everywhere, but less in the liposuctioned areas. We take photographs preoperatively so that we can gauge your progress after surgery. Please be assured that we will remove as much fat as can safely be removed. Your clothes will probably fit differently early on after the surgery, because of the swelling and surgical garments. It can take several weeks to months for the swelling to go down enough to make a difference in clothing size.