What to Expect From Liposuction

If you are considering liposuction you will need to consult with a plastic surgeon and determine if you are a good candidate for the procedure. Your doctor will need to go over your complete medical history with you and get a list of all of your past surgeries, your known allergies, any medical conditions and know what prescription medications you are currently taking including vitamins and other over the counter medicines. You should also discuss any past or ongoing issue with alcohol or drug abuse with your surgeon.

Your doctor will want to do a complete physical exam, including drawing blood to check for any unseen conditions including pregnancy in women. Once you pass your physical in good health, your doctor will want to take photos of the areas you want to have liposuction and sculptured for your medical records.
You will be advised to avoid any weight loss or weigh gain before your scheduled surgery and to avoid consuming alcohol, vitamin E or certain medications such as aspirin or ibuprofen in the days leading up to your surgery.

Your doctor may start you on a regimen of antibiotics the day before your surgery to help ward off any infections and make your recovery go smoothly. You will most likely have your liposuction performed in a surgical center, not in a hospital which helps to cut down on your cost and makes the whole process generally run smoother.

You will probably be given a sedative to relax and then anesthesia. The anesthesia takes 30 to 90 minutes to work and at that point small incisions will be made where the surgeon will insert the cannula to suck out the fat. These incisions are so small you won’t need to have stitches; they should heal themselves closed in a day just like a cut does.

The surgeon will use the cannula to suction out the unwanted fat and insert drainage tubes to help get rid of excessive fluids and blood that are normal after any surgery. The area will then be packed with gauze and a compression bandage and you will go to post op to recover.

Once you are out of the anesthesia and your surgeon feels confident releasing you from the surgical center you will be allowed to go home. You will likely be groggy still from the anesthesia and will probably experience some normal anesthesia amnesia and won’t remember much about the event.

It is important to have someone to care for you the first 24 hours, while you heal from your surgery.
You should be able to return to light activities within a few days to a week and as the post op swelling and bruising subsides you should be able to see the effects from your surgery.