Lipo Side Effects
More and more people are turning to Lipo to remove excess fat. Last year, over 300,000 people underwent surgical Lipo (also known as suction lipectomy or lipoplasty) in America alone.
With this huge influx of patients, more and more people want to know what sorts of results they can expect from their Lipo. One common question that people have is what the side effects of the Lipo surgery are. This page deals with some of the more common-and thankfully less serious-side effects of Lipo, Most Lipo patients will experience at least one or two items off the following list, but thankfully, many of these side effects are only temporary.
Lipo Side Effects: Bruising
At least some bruising is pretty much a given after all Lipos-after all, you have just had surgery! How much will depend some on the Lipo technique you choose, the skill of your Lipo surgeon, and your own body. Generally speaking, the healthier and younger a body is, the less it will bruise.
Although bruises are unsightly and frequently painful, they are temporary. Even the worst bruises should clear up within a month or two after a Lipo.
Lipo Side Effects: Swelling
Swelling is one of the most common side effects of Lipo. Some swelling is the result of your body sending extra blood and fluids to the damaged area to help aid healing. Additional swelling may be present if you underwent tumescent or water-assisted Lipo as a result of the extra fluids used in the procedure. Although swelling can be disappointing, since it can mask the effects of the Lipo at first, the good news is it poses no health risk and is completely temporary. The swelling will go down significantly within the first month, and should be entirely gone by six months after your Lipo procedure if not before.
Because swelling is so common and because it does take some time before the full results of your Lipo are visible, most Lipo surgeons recommend that if you are getting Lipo in preparation for a specific event such as a wedding, cruise, or reunion, you make sure to schedule your Lipo appointment at least three months in advance of the occasion.
Lipo Side Effects: Nausea
Some nausea is not uncommon following a Lipo, but for most patients it is only temporary and not too severe. If you experience violent or prolonged nausea, you should check with your Lipo doctor.
Lipo Side Effects: Dizziness
Minor dizziness in the first few days after a Lipo is not uncommon, and is not a cause for alarm.
Lipo Side Effects: Tiredness
You will probably feel a little tired and low-energy the first few days after your Lipo, since your body is spending most of its energy trying to heal.
Lipo Side Effects: Scarring
One of the side effects Lipo patients are most worried about is scarring. They fear that they'll finally lose the fat, but then still feel unable to wear a bathing suit in public because of large Frankenstein-style rail road track scars. The good news is internet horror stories notwithstanding; most Lipos actually involve very little scarring at all.
Lipo is performed with tiny hollow tubes called cannulas which are used to suction fat from the body. These cannulas are inserted through small incisions into the fat layer, where they do their work. Because these cannulas are so small, the incisions they require are equally small, frequently only about 1.5 millimeters long. Because these incisions are so small, they don't tend to leave much behind in the way of obvious scarring. The tiny scars that are left leave behind after a Lipo are generally very difficult to see, and they tend to fade with time, leaving them even less visible.
However, if your Lipo doctor uses a larger cannula, you can expect to experience more scarring. If you have dark, deeply pigmented skin, it is also possible that your scars will be more visible.
Lipo Side Effects: Skin Blemishes
Lipo does sometimes leave behind blemishes of the skin that aren't true scars. Due to the damage done to the skin during surgery, a Lipo sometimes leaves behind unusually pigmented spots at the site of incision. These spots appear significantly darker or lighter than the surrounding tissue. These spots usually disappear with time, although it they typically disappear more quickly in light-skinned patients.
Lipo Side Effects: Loose Skin
If the amount of fat taken from any particular area is larger rather smaller, there is the possibility of loose folds or bags of skin appearing once the fat beneath them has been removed. In people with relatively elastic skin, the skin contracts over time and adapts to the new smaller form of the patient. This leaves the site of Lipo with a trimmer and more streamlined appearance. In people with non-elastic skin, the problem may persist, and in extreme cases leave the person looking worse than they did before the Lipo surgery. There are many cosmetic techniques today specially designed to address the problematic areas with loose skin. Ask your Lipo doctor about these techniques if you suffer from loose or inelastic skin.
Skin elasticity is determined by a number of factors. It is partly genetic, and it tends to be connected to age. Older people tend to have less elastic skin than young people. Also, people who have previously been obese but who have lost significant amounts of weight tend to have less elastic skin.
One way to test your own skin elasticity is to pinch a section of skin on the back of your hand for several seconds and then let go. The longer your skin takes to go back to being flat, the less elastic your skin is.
Lipo Side Effects: Dimpling
It is generally assumed that if having some fat suctioned from the body can make a person look good, having more fat removed will make them look even better. This is not always the case. If a Lipo surgeon is attempting to remove fat from too large of an area-especially if he is inexperienced in large-volume Lipo-fat cells are sometimes removed unevenly. The result is unsightly, leaving the skin of the affected area bumpy or dimply. This would probably be unattractive in the any case, but what makes this complication particularly upsetting for many people is that this dimpling frequently resembles cellulite.
Because of this and higher risks of other more serious medical complications, most surgeons recommend a Lipo patient not ask the doctor to remove more than 10 pounds of fat at any one time.
Lipo Side Effects: Lumpiness
Another reason to avoid getting too much fat removed at any one time is lumpiness. Since it would be dangerous and prohibitively expensive to get Lipo of all areas of the body all at once, getting too much fat removed may make the untreated areas of the body appear lumpy, puffy, or even misshapen in comparison.
Lipo works best for relatively fit people who have one or two stubborn pockets of fat that just won't budge-in other words, people who look a little out of proportion to themselves in the first place. Then when Lipo flattens their tummies or trims their thighs they look more natural, rather than less.
Lipo Side Effects: Other Side Effects
All of the side effects of Lipo that we have discussed so far have been relatively short-term and innocuous. There are, of course, more serious complications that can occur. Luckily, these more serious complications tend to be very rare, but they do exist.
Other complications with Lipo can include infection, an allergic reaction to anesthesia or medication, burns (depending on the sort of Lipo performed), nerve damage, damage to the vital organs, blood loss, clots of blood or fat, the accumulation of excess fluid in the lungs, and even death.
The chances of these complications can be minimized if you ensure that you have a properly qualified and skilled Lipo surgeon and if you are entirely honest with him or her during your pre-surgery Lipo consultation.
Do not withhold any part of your medical history. Also, obey all instructions that your Lipo doctor gives you while preparing for surgery. This will probably include abstaining from smoking and cutting back alcohol consumption at least a week before your Lipo surgery.