Arm Liposuction Recovery

Skin and soft tissue irregularities are known complications following liposuction. I usually do not perform revision surgery following liposuction until at least 3 to 6 months, depending upon each patient’s physical findings. I would continue to follow the advice of your plastic surgeon. He/she knows and you the best and understands the surgery performed. Potential revision surgery may require additional liposuction and/or possible skin excision (brachioplasty). I hope this... more

It can take up to 6 months to see the final results of skin tightening after liposuction. What may help your post-op progress is a compression garment which will help keep the edema down and aid in skin retraction, though at three months the utility of the garment is minimal. The lump itself may represent a hematoma or unaspirated fat depending on the liposuction technique. Continue massage and reassess at six months. Of course you should discuss your post-operative progress with your... more

Hopefully, you will have some more retraction of the skin and evening out of the lumpy areas. Give it a little more time. It can take six months to a year for full healing.  

You mentioned you had two issues with your liposuction: lumpiness at 3 months' time and sagging skin on one arm. Presumably there is an asymmetry since one side is sagging and the other not. The best course is generally to wait for about 6 months before considering revision liposuction, if any is needed at all. Lumpiness after liposuction generally responds to massage and time. Small irregularities generally respond to revision liposuction, if they are bothersome to the patient. At the... more

It sounds like there may be a small area of fat that is still remaining, but this can easily be treated with a procedure under local anesthetic. Give yourself a minimum of 6 months before undergoing a repeat procedure, but it should do the trick.

Hi. That's where most of the fat is and where the skin is tightest.  When liposuction is done on the undersides of the arms, that can lead to more sagging.  I am afraid that at 3 months you are close to the final result.

Some contour irregularities are common after liposuction. Typically, your skin will shrink over 6 months after the surgery. So, you still have a couple of months of further skin retraction left. As for the lumps, massaging and compression garments may help further. Make sure you follow-up with your surgeon and discuss all your concerns. If there is any sagging skin remaining after 6 months, then a brachioplasty or armlift may be the solution.

Loose skin 3 months following liposuction is better treated by compression and exercise. I have seen many cases where great improvement was made by conservative management. The very few cases where an excision surgery is needed are probably cases where liposuction was not the best procedure to start with. Having a lump following Lipo is usually some fat atrophy, but other conditions should be ruled out, especially if the mass does not go away or increase in size. I hope that helps.... more

Hello, Liposuction in the arms can leave sagging skin. The "Real" question is whether or not the problem you have is skin or fat-related. I agree to give it time (at least 6 months) to sort out. The alternative may be a brachioplasty which involves a skin excision and a long scar, so waiting at this point is very reasonable. Some swelling in the area is very normal at your stage. How much of what you are seeing is swelling, of course, can be hard to tell. Best Regards.... more

In the early postoperative period, some irregularities are normal following liposuction. Resolution of swelling and localized areas of infammantion can take up to a few months to improve, and often are helped with massage and compression. Especially in bilateral procedures such as yours, when you have a second similar site like your other arm to compare to, irregularities may seem more apparent to you. But the good news is... if your irregularities are swelling and inflammation, they will likel more

Lumpiness can be from swelling or areas that were not adequately liposuctioned. However, it is a bit early to revise anything. Massage is unlikely to improve the lumpiness at this time.  The skin laxity will probably not improve.