Liposuction Aftercare for St. Louis Patients

After the surgery, the person will need to wear a support garment continuously for two to three weeks. The support garments can be removed during bathing 24 hours after surgery.

The incisions involved in this procedure are tiny, about the size of the tip of a pen. Minor bleeding or seepage through the incision site(s) is common after this procedure. Wearing the support garment helps reduce fluid loss.

Liposuction is virtually painless. However, for the first postoperative day, there may well be some discomfort requiring over the counter pain medicine. Soreness or aching may persist for several days. A person can usually return to normal activity within a week. Postoperative bruising will go away within 10 to 14 days. Postoperative swelling begins to go down after a week. It may take three to six months for the final contour to be reached.
Post Operative Care

The Tumescent Technique

The tumescent technique for liposuction uses a large volume of a dilute solution of lidocaine and epinephrine. The tumescent technique for liposuction has become the worldwide standard of care for liposuction because it has eliminated the common problem of surgical bleeding associated with older techniques. The dilute tumescent fluid contains both lidocaine for local anesthesia and dilute epinephrine that shrinks capillaries. After liposuction, a large volume of blood-tinged tumescent anesthetic solution remaining trapped under the skin may slow postoperative recovery.

There may be swelling and discomfort for a few days after the procedure. These are easily treated with over-the-counter pain medications and in most cases, discomfort is gone within days.