Bruising and Swelling After Liposuction
Hi I’m doctor Dan Shapiro Im a plastic surgeon certified by the American Board of plastic surgeon I’ve been practicing the Scottsdale Paradise Valley area since 1992. And I only perform cosmetic surgery or aesthetic surgery.
One of the common question that I have regarding liposuction body contouring surgery is, how long is the bruising or swelling gonna last? I get asked before surgery and after and again a week later and people tend to forget the answer. I think it’s because inherently we are excited and impatient we want to see the result, depending upon the kind of liposuction I perform, it will give me an idea on the about how much bruising or swelling you can expect.
The sophisticated liposuction techniques we use now, vaser liposuction, which is ultrasonic. Tends to help contract the tissues and is much less traumatic than previous liposuctions. It’s very uncommon to see bruising after that surgery. Swelling is a natural consequence of liposuction and you can really expect to see what I’ve done although I’ve seen the operating room, you can expect swelling in the first week or two but that really starts to go down the third week or so. By a month you will see the results, and by about three months you will see 80-85% of what I perform and I think people really start to get excited.
You will then see the evolution at the shape. I think it becomes a reinforcing procedure for people because they can’t believe the new shape they have. I think it’s very empowering for people. Another type of liposuction I do is vaser high definition liposuction which a more sophisticated technique.
Vaser high definition liposuction actually creates more swelling and more delayed swelling. Those patience we like to have them get lymphatic drainage. We also like them to wear a specialized garment that’s more constricting than the normal liposuction garments. Those patients you will see most the result of the procedure in about three months. I think the final result for those patients takes about a year, why? Because of the delayed swelling in the superficial layer of the fat that I perform the surgery on. That tends to take longer to see the final result. Once again even in those patients with vaser high def liposuction, bruising is pretty uncommon. Overall I like to discuss medications upfront in the process. We go through a whole list and avoid any ibuprofen, aspirin, herbal supplements, fish oil, I think we can minimize the bruising and by wearing your garment, following a protocol we can minimize that swelling to get to better final result quicker.
