Recovering from Tumescent Liposuction

• Tumescent Liposuction Overview
• Complimentary Liposuction Consultation
• Recovering from Tumescent Liposuction
• Answers to Common Questions
• Potential Risks & Complications

To find out more about liposuction in Pennsylvania, contact Philadelphia liposuction surgeon Dr. Abbott or request a free liposuction consultation today.

Immediate Post-Operative Recovery

After liposuction by general or regional anesthesia, patients must be observed in a recovery room until it can be determined that they have not lost too much blood, and that the post-operative nausea and vomiting is not too profound. With the Tumescent Technique, there is virtually no blood loss and rarely any nausea.

Because it does take additional time to inject the local anesthesia with liposuction by the Tumescent Technique the patient does remain on the surgical table longer than with liposuction by general or regional anesthesia. However, because the recovery time is so short, the total amount of time that the patient is in the surgical facility is much shorter with the Tumescent Technique than with general or regional anesthesia. After completion of liposuction by the Tumescent Technique, patients are discharged home in about 30 minutes.

Quick Return to Normal Activities

By avoiding stitches to close incision sites, there is a marked acceleration in the rate of healing. Patients are now noticing that bruising is almost entirely absent one week after surgery.

Because the Tumescent Technique allows the residual anesthetic solution to drain out very quickly, it not only eliminates bruising, but also lessens inflammation. By using this technique, the healing process is significantly accelerated.

Because of the significant decrease in swelling, and decrease in inflammation and pain after surgery, patients are able to return to normal physical activities very soon afterwards. There is no limitation to physical activity other than what common sense would dictate. Some patients are able to return to jogging, golf, light aerobic exercise within a day or two after surgery. Some patients do find the soreness after surgery more significant than others, but on the average, most patients are quite surprised at how quickly they are able to return to normal activity.

Are the Scars Visible?

Because the Tumescent Technique uses very small micro-cannulas, only tiny incisions are required. The incisions are so small that no stitches are used. The wounds heal by themselves and virtually disappear with time.

How Is the Skin Affected?

The degree of skin change after liposuction is the same as one would expect if it were possible to lose an equal amount of fat in these localized areas simply by dieting. Because the small cannulas simply make small tunnels through the fat, there remain multiple connections between the skin and the underlying tissue. These fibrous connections contract with the healing process and maintain the skin in its natural position. After liposuction by the Tumescent Technique, one does not have to worry about excessive folds of skin in the areas treated by liposuction. This effect is so dramatic that many patients who previously would have required a surgical excision of skin, called a tummy tuck, can now have excellent results simply by having liposuction.

Decreased Bruising

There is dramatically less bruising using local anesthesia for liposuction as compared to general or regional anesthesia. There are two reasons for this significant decrease in bruising. First, because there is so little bleeding with the Tumescent Technique, there is almost no blood that remains beneath the skin to cause bruising.

The second reason for decreased bruising is that with the Tumescent Technique there is a considerable amount of post-operative drainage of the anesthetic solution which is slightly blood tinged from these minute incision sites. These incisions being so small that they do not require stitches allows them to remain slightly open for two to three days permitting most of the residual anesthetic solution and blood to drain out which helps to minimize the bruising and swelling and therefore accelerates the rate of healing.