AL & finger swelling

HELP! How long after an arm lift did your fingers go back to your pre-surgery size? I know everyone says their hands swell for a bit after surgery, but how long until it's not an issue anymore? (I want to make sure my wedding ring will fit back on my hand before the wedding day! LOL)

Thanks all!

Cass

Three weeks to a month.

When I had my Brachio my hands/fingers got swollen around day 5 or so and it lasted about a week.  The swelling on the arms and forearm lasted much longer.....about 6 weeks.  The only thing that would take the swelling down on my hands was to lay down and raise the arms high on pillows.  They have to be higher than your heart..

FYI - I just had major lipo done on my arms 4 days ago and today is the first time my hands are swollen (the arms are swollen and will be for at least 4 or 6 weeks, if not longer).  I've been staying in bed most of the day today and my hands have gone down about 1/2 of what they were when I woke up.

When did you have your brachio and how long have the hands been puffy?

My fingers were back to normal within 4-5 days. Now that I'm in compression garments for my arms my Dr. warned me that they could possibly swell again but so far they are OK.

Sonya

I would say that most of my patients swell for a week or less.  The rest  vary a LOT with some still having noticeable albeit intermittant swelling for 3-6 months.The issues that affect this are type and degree of surgery, proper arm positioning during recovery, proper fit of compression garments, and lymphatic massage to encourage drainage of the arms.  Other things like avoiding to much salt intake and not keeping your arms down for a long time will also help diminish your swelling.Always contact your doc if your swelling is accompanied by redness, numbness, or unusual pain.

OMG - This is SUCH a relief!  I knew that there are still days that my stomach gets all swollen (not nearly as much though!) from my LBL and I'm 5 months out and I was really starting to freak :-).  But it sounds like I've put enough time between surgery and the big day I should be fine.

Thanks everyone!

Cass