How Long Does Liposuction Recovery Take?

(Before After Liposuction)

If you were to drive someone home from liposuction surgery, you might look at them and wonder what they went through the procedure for in the first place. This is because initially the results of liposuction aren't very pretty. It can lead a person to wonder just how long it takes to recover from liposuction.

Out of the Office

After the initial recovery from anesthesia, patients are usually free to get up and walk around. If their liposuction procedure was performed using local anesthesia, they are often released in as little as thirty minutes. General anesthesia, due to higher risks, means that the patient has to stay longer so the doctor can be certain they have suffered no ill effects from the drugs. When they go home, the patient often still has bruising, swelling, drainage, and is likely to be wearing a compression garment.

Bruising

While some patients do not exhibit bruising after liposuction surgery, they are rare exceptions. Bruising is extremely common and should be expected. However, the bruises usually begin fading immediately and some patients report them being completely gone in as little as two days. For others, however, they can last up to two or three weeks.

Draining

How long the draining from liposuction lasts is a bit more specific. The draining is most severe for the first day, and begins to decrease in amount after that. Usually by three days after surgery, drainage has stopped. This, however, can vary based on whether the incisions are left open or are sutured shut. Since it is easier for the body to drain the excess fluid than it is to absorb it, most surgeons do not stitch the incisions, as leaving them open seems to promote quicker healing.

Back to Normal

By the time the drainage from liposuction has ceased, your body is most likely ready to resume the majority of its normal activities. Even though strenuous exercise or work wouldn't be recommended so soon, most patients are able to return to work or school and participate in low-impact exercise routines.

Swelling

While many parts of the recovery are quick, how long the swelling from liposuction lasts is a completely different question. There is usually a significant decrease in swelling once the drainage is done. However, the swelling is not gone and it will keep decreasing at a rapid rate for the first month or so. After about eight weeks, the majority of the swelling is usually gone and patients can see a shadow of their results. The final outcome from liposuction may not be truly visible for several months though.

It should be obvious from the length of time it takes to recover from liposuction that the surgery is not the quick and easy answer a lot of people are looking for. While recovery time varies slightly from person to person, before going in to have a surgery performed, one should look realistically at the average length of time to recover from a liposuction procedure. There is no way to accurately predict if your recovery will be faster or slower. Therefore, it would be wise to think of the average recovery time more as a minimum. That way, even if you recover from liposuction more slowly, at least you were prepared to do so.

Are you considering liposuction? Wondering about dangers, risks, alternatives, or recovery time? If so, check out: Liposuction Recovery Time and become educated about the entire liposuction experience.

Brandon Walsh is considered an expert author in the fields of nutrition, weight loss, and healthy living.

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Before After Liposuction