Liposuction and Edema

When considering liposuction, a safe process but still a surgical procedure, you must consider several complications. One of these complications is edema. Edema is a swelling that is caused by the body retaining fluids. To have edema after liposuction is quite common, and some doctors claim that it is simply a part of the body's natural healing process.







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Duration

• The duration that you will experience liposuction after effects will vary, but many people experience edema on the places treated with liposuction for about four to six weeks after their operations. In general, right after the liposuction surgery, you will not notice any signs of swelling. As your body begins the healing process a few days after surgery, edema will begin. Edema is temporary. You will begin slowly to see the dramatic results that you saw you had achieved on the day of the surgery, as the body drains away the inflammatory fluid.

Drainage

• Many surgeons reduce edema and swelling in liposuction by not closing the incisions. Incisions made in plastic surgery are left open, so the blood-tinged local anesthetic can drain out of the body. If the patient were given stitches, the edema and the swelling would be much greater. If the incision site were sewn, it would result in a lot of swelling-inducing fluid becoming trapped under the skin. Because of the open-incision method, absorbent pads are worn on the body after surgery.

Abdominal Liposuction

• The duration and severity of the edema will depend on where you had surgery. The abdominal area is the most popular place to have liposuction done. You both need to be aware that edema is especially common after abdominal liposuction and that the symptoms of edema will probably be of longer duration as the incisions take longer to drain. If your liposuction was abdominal, it can take up to three to four months for the swelling to go down again. Minor tasks that involve forward bending, such as tying your shoe, can present a challenge for a short while.

Warning

• Cases of pulmonary edema during some types of liposuction have been caused in the past by too much fluid in the body. Pulmonary edema is a condition in which the lung sacs fill with fluid making it hard for the patient to breath. Pulmonary edema during liposuction is caused when excessive fluids are put into the body.

Pros

• Edema is not painful. Liposuction patients, in general, are not prescribed any prescription pain medicine. Liposuction is a safe procedure, and unless the patient attempts to have too much liposuction done on them in one day, any adverse effects of liposuction will in general be temporary. In general, the results that you saw on the first day after your surgery will be where are are after the edema goes down.