Question:
SWELLING AFTER THIGH REDUCTION & LIPO
Hi, I had a lower body lift and my inner thighs done 9 days ago. My lower body lift looks great! However I'm a little worried about my legs. I have an incision that goes from my knee all the way up my inner thigh and up around to my butt cheeks. He also did a little lipo on the upper part of my inner and outer thighs. My concern is that the top of my inner thighs are very big, in fact one side is bigger than the other. He said that is from the lipo. But why is one side swelling more than the other? Is something wrong with my lymphatic system (Ikeep reading about and don't understand what it is) or is this mormal? THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!!! — Kelly* P. (posted on March 6, 2005)
March 6, 2005
Several things can account for the difference in swelling. Maybe more lipo
was done on one side ( more tissue damage means more swelling), do you
sleep on your sides ( maybe you stay on one side longer)do you lean to one
side when sitting? Just some thoughts.If the skin becomes tight or shiny
you need to call your surgeon immediately.
— dianne E.
March 6, 2005
First of all your only 9 days out after surgery. Don't worry about it. You
are going have swelling for months. Are you wearing a pressure garment? My
PS required me to wear a pressure garment for at least 6 to 8 weeks after
surgery. This helps with the swelling. Something to keep in mind... your
PS can only do so much... during the first surgery.. there are times once
the surgery is done and the swelling go down he or she will have to make
some adjustments. Also something to remember... your not going to have
legs like a 16 year old after PS. They are talking the excess skin off so
you don't develop bad knees or hips because of the extra weight. Give
yourself time. I'm going to assume you had the heavy legs for some time
and it's going to take time to heal (at least 6 months).
— Linda R.
March 6, 2005
from www.lipoinfo.com
also be sure to talk to your doctor
LIPOSUCTION SWELLING (EDEMA)
Whenever the body is injured, inflammatory cells and other mechanisms
usually cause a release of water-based fluid (edema). When this water-based
edema fluid builds-up in a significant amount, it causes what we outwardly
see as swelling. The inured area can swell in many directions. If it swells
outward it may be noticeable by the public. If it swells inward, it may
swell to the point of pressing on structure that ends up resisting the
swelling, then the swelling may move in other directions including
outward.
Swelling occurs after almost all liposuction. There are many factors that
can cause swelling some are genetic (hereditary, found in relatives).
Usually a combination of events determines how much swelling a patient will
have after liposuction. The location of the liposuction is important. The
lower on the body that the liposuction performed the greater the chance of
having some swelling in that area. Number of earlier liposuctions is
important. If a patient has had liposuction in the same area of treatment
once or twice before, there is hidden scar tissue laid down within the
body. Scar tissue is much more prone to swell because it is a water-based
fibrous tissue, as oppose to the fatty tissues which are more oil-based
with only a small amount of water-base fibrous tissue coursing through the
fat. Other things that influence swelling include genetic background and
fatty-tissue type. If the patient has cells within his or her body that are
fragile or prone to reacting at the slightest bit of trauma special
chemicals are usually released from those fragile tissues as well as
chemicals that are floating in the blood. These chemicals may cause the
release of swelling fluid from blood and lymph vessels. Some of these
chemicals are related to histamine, others may be related to
prostaglandins.
However these type of chemicals usually cause more immediate (right away)
swelling. They may or may not be involved in long-standing swelling. If
there is no cause for long-standing swelling, then usually the immediate
swelling goes away with time as the name suggests. Therefore, the website
author still does not believe it is reasonable to give antihistamine in
order to reduce swelling in liposuction. In fact at this time the author
has never even heard the subject of giving antihistamine discussed by
doctors in relation to liposuction. Another obvious cause of immediate
swelling during and following liposuction is the tumescent method. Pumping
fluid into the tissues balloons them right away. But the body naturally can
usually handle the fluid in a very safe manner when the Klein formula is
followed (hopefully strictly by your surgeon). Unfortunately, too many
surgeons try to change the formula and that is where problems have
happened.
Another cause of swelling would be not having enough compression following
a liposuction. When liposuction is done as we have said before, tunnels are
left behind in the fat where sucking tube or cannula has passed. These
tunnels would tend to collapse flatter if a lot of outside pressure is
provided usually by a garment. Liposuction garments vary in color, size,
shape, texture and breath ability. Having a good and comfortable
liposuction garment is important to help make sure the patient wears the
garment for the right amount of time. Recently in the tumescent liposuction
community, there has been a trend to decrease the amount of time that
constrictive liposuction garments are worn. The website author now suggests
wearing liposuction garment a hundred percent (100%) of the day and
nighttime for the first week following liposuction, decreasing to 50% of
the day or nighttime in the second week following liposuction. This second
week period usually works out to wearing the liposuction garment all night
long. The third week following the liposuction, the website author
recommends that the garment be worn at least 25% of 24 hours which usually
works out best to wearing the garment from 6:00p.m (when one returns home
from work) until midnight. These recommendations may vary from patient to
patient, site to site and situation to situation.
Also, usually the more fibrous the patient's fat the more the patient will
tend to swell. Common fibrous fatty areas include love handles in men and
women, the breasts in men and the lower back and sometimes in the hip
regions. African Americans and persons of Mediterranean ancestry tend to
have a higher chance of swelling. For these patients, the website author is
especially concerned about being very gentle during the liposuction so as
not to cause much trauma to the fibrous part of the fat (the likely source
of swelling fluid). The website author believes that these patients should
probably wear their compression garments a bit longer than we just said.
How can swelling arise in some liposuction patients? In some but not all
liposuction patients trauma from cannulas that have sharp tips or are
pushed too fast through the tissue by the surgeon or have too much vacuum
(suction) applied. Not allowing enough time for the Klein tumescent
solution to take effect can also cause more bleeding, bleeding can increase
the chance of swelling. When the cannula hole(s) passes by the fat if the
cannula is stroked too fast, the rubbing can tear at the little blood
vessels that are naturally attached to all fat cell clusters. Blood and
oxygen are even necessary to keep fat cells alive. Tearing too much of
these blood vessels instead of delicately teasing the fat from the body can
cause blood leakage. Blood contains proteins and other chemicals, which can
draw water out of the tiny capillaries into surrounding tissues (remaining
fat) making the swelling problems even worse. Once these chemicals and
proteins are out of the blood space and located in the fat, a vicious cycle
may be created drawing more and more fluid out of the vessels and with it
more fluid sucking protein into the already swollen fat. So, it is very
important that the liposuction surgeon be very delicate in the removal of
the fat. This is especially true if you have had previous liposuction(s),
or if you are in the groups just mentioned to be more prone to swelling
following trauma. When swelling fluids has set in, the treatments for it
are relatively limited and take a bit of time to work and may only work a
bit. Continued compression, massage and EXternal ultrasound may possibly
reduce the swelling and open up some channels to allow swelling fluid out
of the area. Unfortunately, getting rid of persistent swelling can be a
very difficult problem for both the surgeon and the patient. It is many
times very, very difficult to prove the cause of the problem or the source
of the swelling. Things vary from patient to patient, surgeon to surgeon,
and month to month.
— **willow**
March 7, 2005
I gained 18lbs of fluid after my LBL. I had every test under the sun to
determine why. I never got an answer but it eventually went away for the
most part. I will say though that the LBL changed my body. My thighs are
larger than they were before my surgery. I guess having 11lbs of skin
removed changed the way my body holds fat. Just keep in mind that you may
not get the perfect body you dreamed of......my Dr. gave me a flat stomach
and JLo's thighs....but I suppose I will live.....good luck Wendi LBL 9/04
— lovemonterey
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