Question: A friend of mine had liposuction and ended up looking fatter two weeks after surgery. I found it bazaar. How can this happen?
Answer:
It happens because of the biologic nature of surgical recovery. It goes like this –
1. Our bodies experience surgery including liposuction as an injury – so it starts to swell.
2. The swelling builds up for 3-5 days, then stops. At two weeks, it starts to subside.
3. The swelling has two components –
a. water, which we retain in the surgical area
b. healing protein which is very thick and lumpy and first.
If you had seen your friend the day of surgery, she probably would have liked the result.
• At two weeks, she was swollen and thought she was ‘fatter.’
• By 6 weeks, she will see most, but not all the swelling gone.
• Between 6 weeks and 12 months, her body will replace the lumpy, thick healing collagen with thin, soft delicate permanent collagen – revealing her final result.
Watch in this video as Dr. Morgan talks about swelling after liposuction, why it occurs, and what to expect.
https://vimeo.com/144036950