Liposuction: Info, Prices, Photos, Reviews, Q&A

It is normal to experience swelling and discomfort five days post-surgery.

You should be following your board-certified surgeon’s instructions and wearing your compression garment, which helps minimize swelling. In our practice, I advise my patients to wear their garment up to six weeks and take an OTC “over the counter” pain reliever as necessary.

Your swelling should subside by six weeks, but if you are still experiencing a lot of discomfort, please contact your surgeon directly. (Brian Coan, MD, FACS, Raleigh-Durham Plastic Surgeon)

Swelling post liposuction can last up to 6 weeks. Depending on the “type” of liposuction you have done will determaine how invasive the post operative swelling could be.

Continue wearing your compression garments for best results. (Jaime Perez, MD, Tampa Plastic Surgeon)

Pain and Swelling After Liposuction

Usually, discomfort after liposuction begins fading after 3-5 days. Swelling may persist for 4-6 weeks, when the initial results become evident. But the final result, however, may take 8-10 months to allow skin tighting over the areas of liposuciton. (John J. Heieck, MD (retired), Omaha Plastic Surgeon)

There are two main phases with liposuction postoperatively. The first phase is the immediate post operative pain and swelling. This is more intense especially for the first one to two weeks.

Then your body continues to heal for quite a long time. The further out from surgery the more the discomfort improves and activity resumes.

You can still have swelling, tightness to the tissue, and minor discomfort that can even be annoying at times.

All of these symptoms normally disappear. Just stay patient and your will symptoms will improve. (Joel B. Beck, MD, FACS, Bay Area Plastic Surgeon)

Most patients will experience pain and discomfort for up to 2 weeks after Liposuction. After that the pain should get better. However, the swelling will take longer to go down. We usually say to allow 3 months for swelling to go down and everything be back to normal. (Mark W. Greene, MD, San Antonio Plastic Surgeon)

Typically, the abdomen area will have the most discomfort, because the liposuction is aggressive. Just be sure to get plenty of rest and take it easy for the next few days. (Dhaval M. Patel, MD, Hoffman Estates Plastic Surgeon)

Recovery Following Liposuction May Take Up to 8 Weeks, With 80% Recovery in the First 2-3 Weeks

Typically, when a woman undergoes liposuction the areas treated are the flank and hip area along with the inner and outer thighs and very often the abdomen. When men undergo liposuction, the commonly treated areas are the love handles and the abdomen.

The area that remains painful the longest is normally the flank or love handle area near the center of the back. The remaining areas normally lose the pain sooner. Except for the back area, you should expect most of your pain and discomfort to subside in the first two to three weeks.

The degree of swelling will vary form person to person. Normally, you should expect approximately 80% of the swelling to subside in the first two to three weeks. Sometimes, the remaining 20% will take as long as six to eight weeks. (John J. Edney, MD, Omaha Plastic Surgeon)

Liposuction swelling and pain

This will vary somewhat from patient to patient. In my practice I tell patients there will be bruising and swelling. The bruising is usually gone in 2 or 3 weeks but swelling takes longer. I advise patients that about 80% of edema will resolve in 6-8 weeks but it may take 6-8 months for the remainder of the edema to resolve completely and see the final result.

Compression garments are recommended to the treated areas for the first 4-6 weeks, after which I tell patients to wear them as needed for obvious swelling or comfort. I allow activity as tolerated after the first postoperative visit. (Jeffrey D. Wagner, MD, Indianapolis Plastic Surgeon)

Both Pain & Swelling Are Common Post-Op Liposuction

You probably have some bruising as well. If your bruising is visible and you are experiencing soreness (which can last months) then you still have swelling in the tissues.

Most of the swelling is resolved at 6 weeks however some residual swelling can take longer to heal. If you have a healthy diet and lifestyle you will continue to see your results improve over a 6 month period. (Yannis Alexandrides, MD, London Plastic Surgeon)

Pain and Swelling after Liposuction

Full recovery following a liposuction procedure can take some time and you are still very early in the healing process, so a bit of discomfort and swelling is definitely to be expected. The healing process for patients is highly variable, depending on a variety of factors including, but not limited to, areas treated, patient age, patient medical history, surgeon technique and surgeon expertise.

As a general rule of thumb, swelling can take 6-12 months to resolve completely and it can take a week or so for patients to start feeling more like themselves. Wearing appropriate post-operative compression garments for one month after surgery tends to facilitate this dissipation of swelling, and is something I would recommend speaking to your operating surgeon about if you are not wearing one already.

Expect to feel (and look) a little bruised and banged up for about a week or two, remember to ambulate frequently to help promote good circulation, and keep in mind that your liposuction results will continue to improve day by day!.(Stephen T. Greenberg, MD, Woodbury Plastic Surgeon)

In my experience and depending on the patient while final results take 6-12 months to achieve, most of the swelling, any bruising and most of the discomfort resolves within the first two to three weeks.

So be a little patient. By three weeks the bruising should be gone and you should start to see some improvement or at least be no bigger than you were prior to your lipo. At the three month mark you should have about 70-80% of your final improvement.

This is due to continuing remodeling and tightening of the tissue and skin and with this goes along some inflammation which necessitates edema or swelling. (David Amron, MD, Beverly Hills Dermatologic Surgeon)

Liposuction is uncomfortable but worth it.

It is totally normal to have pain and discomfort after liposuction. In most patients the majority of pain lasts about a week. Some patients will have small areas of lingering discomfort or occasionally shooting pain.

These will subside and go away. Swelling is normal. You will see a significant decrease in the swelling over the next couple of weeks, with most of the residual swelling being gone by 3 months. Your tissues will continue to soften for even longer.

You will generally see the final result by 6 months with only small changes occurring after that. Wearing a compression garment helps to minimize the swelling and to recover faster. Massage of the area also helps to decrease swelling as well as decrease discomfort. (Patty K. Young, MD, Dallas Plastic Surgeon)

How long does swelling last after tummy liposuction?

Most patients who undergo liposuction in Los Angeles describe that their body is still healing 8 weeks after surgery. As a plastic surgeon who specializes in liposuction and body contouring I feel that a person’s body continues to change for 4-6 months after surgery.

90% of the abdominal swelling is gone by 8-12 weeks after liposuction, if the patient is active, and performs abdominal massage. (Sean Younai, MD, FACS, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)

With liposuction it is normal to have discomfort, brusing and swelling. It is advisable to continue to wear your compression garment given to you when you had surgery, as this will help with the swelling.

Most patients will not see the final result to surgery for at least 3 months. Make sure you limit your alcohol and salt intake this will help. So, be patient ,and i’m sure that you will soon be happy and see the results of your efforts. (Linda Swanson, MD, Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon)