How Much Downtime Does Liposuction Require?

Downtime Associated with Tumescent Liposuction

As mentioned above, liposuction performed in the office by a  cosmetic surgeon using local anesthesia offers tremendous benefits,  particularly less downtime, which is one of the primary concerns of many liposuction patients.  Patients having awake, tumescent anesthetic, where the area being treated is infiltrated with a large amount of numbing fluid, are pleasantly surprised to hear how quickly they may bounce back and resume normal day-to-day activities.  At Premier Vein & Body, we tell our patients that they can resume their normal routine, including exercise, as soon as they feel up to it, often within just a few days. They are only limited by their motivation and their level of pain tolerance.,  Of course,  recovery will obviously depend on the volume of liposuction performed,  , how many areas were treated and each patient’s general health,  but with the proper post-operative medication and the right fitting compression garment, one can quickly be on the road to recovery. Many patients will have their procedure on a Thursday or Friday and are able to return to work without difficulty on Monday.  For those people whose jobs are sedentary, or do not require any physical activity or exertion, they can sometimes return to work by the next day. Following the procedure, you may have drainage of the anesthetic solution, but for most patients, this stops in 24 hours, or perhaps over a few days. Bruising and swelling are common, but generally, slowly resolve over days to a couple of weeks. The level of post-procedure discomfort is highly variable, but generally slowly diminishes over several weeks.  Remember that each person heals differently, but it is worth it in the end!!!  While patients will see improvement in the treated areas early on (once the initial swelling fades), it is important to keep in mind that the area will continue to contract over time, so that final results will not be visible until about six months post-procedure.

In-Office Liposuction in Kansas City

Although Dr. Craig Schwartz offers Pro Lipo™ Laser Lipo, which uses laser energy to melt fat, and VaserLipo®, which uses ultrasonic energy to break up fat, his preferred method of tumescent liposuction is Tickle Lipo (also known as Lipomatic® or Nutational Infrasonic Lipoplasty), which uses a gentle, high-speed vibration-assisted energy to break down fat while keeping the connective tissue intact.  The liquefied fat is then gently suctioned from the body.  As this form of liposuction does not use any type of heat component as its energy source, there is no chance of skin burn or injury, as there can be with laser and ultrasound technology. And because this procedure assists in the stimulation of collagen in the treated area for up to six months post-treatment, excessive skin folds with large volumes of fat excavated often tighten up during this period. With TickleLipo, candidates that previously did not qualify for outpatient liposuction procedures (typically those not within 30 pounds of their ideal body weight) can now have larger volumes of fat removed without the trauma and high costs associated with a hospital or surgery center-based liposuction under general anesthesia.