How often do Smart Lipo side effects occur?

Please understand that lipo is not for weight loss it is for body shaping.  Most people that have lipo will loss little to no weight.  In fact there is a significant fraction that gain weight after the procedure if not properly counseled.  There are several side effects that are fairly common in most SmartLipo procedures.  Each side effect has a different time line.  Most bruising is usually cleared up by 2-3 weeks especially if the patient takes arnica.  Pain from SmartLipo is normally minimal by about 3 or 4 weeks.  Generalize swelling starts to go down after about 2 weeks but can last three or four months.  The lumps and bumps are usually due to damage to the lymphatic system and like generalized swelling can take a few months to go away.  This time line can be significantly lengthened if the patient is not receiving post surgical massage or has previous scarring or fibrosis (any surgery aver the area or pregnancy). Numbness over the treated area also lasts several months.  Lumps and bumps left after that period are less common and normally provider dependent.  These are usually contour irregularities caused by taking too much or not enough fat and should be evaluated by your surgeon.

Hi fjeeny, I can understand your concern regarding the lumps & bumps after lipo.  Unfortunately EVERYONE will have some lumps & bumps.  Some patients will have smaller ones and some with have larger ones.  Most of the smaller ones go completely away and in fact some of the larger ones go away completely eventually as well.  However they are unavoidable.  Think about them as healing tissues/small scars.  Any surgical procedure will generate scar tissue (ie/ facelift/eyelid surgery/breast augmentation) and with lipo, the scar tissue is inside the treat area.  Some scar tissue will always exist but a lot of it depends on your own body and your surgeon.  Good surgical technique reduces the chances of scarring and improves your chances to achieve good results.  Also being healthy, not smoking etc... decreases your chances of having excessive scar formation. I don't want to scare you but I want to be completely honest with you so you'll know what to expect.  I would not classify those as side effects unless they persist; they are more a normal part of healing.  Side effects/complications I would say would be more like skin burns (ie/ from SmartLipo laser).  Also, lipo procedures are not weight loss programs.  Fat is very light (remember fat floats) and is not dense tissue at all.  It is hard to quantify how much weight will be lost as a result of any lipo procedure.  That being said, if you do have that many areas treated, you will lose some weight.  I hope all this helps!  Best of luck.