Did I drain correctly? I have a little jiggle on my left side. Is this still tumescent fluid? Is it a bad thing? What do I do?

Drainage through the incision after tumescent liposuction is common.It should stop fairly soon after surgery.Please keep the compression garment and follow up with your plastic surgeon.

Seromas are a collection of fluid, usually plasma, lymph and liquefied fat cells that can accumulate after any procedure. They need to be drained, to allow the skin to "stick" back down. This is a simple office visit where a small needle is placed through a numb skin area to aspirate the fluid. A compression dressing/garment is then placed to help prevent a repeat seroma. Most seromas will drain for weeks, be patient and allow your surgeon to drain these as often as needed. Any person can drain a seroma, even a nurse.Good Luck!

The feeling of the "jiggle" is totally normal after this procedure and is because of the detached nerve endings (That will reattach over the next 3-4 months) that happens with all liposuction.  Swelling one one side vs. the other can be different based on the way we lay or sleep.  The one thing to watch for is a seroma (fluid collection) which isn't an emergency, but eventually needs to be drained to prevent a deformity.  So, its's always important to keep your follow up appointments, as this is one of the main things they are looking for during the early post-operative period.  having a bit of leakage at five days is also norma.  In my patients the drainage and leakage varies between 3 days and almost two weeks.