How was your Smartlipo recovery?

10/26/12 I had my upper and lower abs, back (part that squeezes out of the bottom of the bra), and flanks (love handles) and topped everything off with a mini tummy-tuck. It's been 6 days now and I'm not as uncomfortable as I was the 1st or second night. I cried when I had to get in bed the first night because I was so sore. The pains meds seem to make me sleepy instantly, but dont really get rid of the pain. I am a size 12 and they sent me home wearing a size SMALL compression garment! I think that contributed to the pain as well especially in my sides. I wore it as long as I could but on the 3rd day I cut myself out of it and put on some spanx which were much better. I then realized the garment is supposed to be super tight so I whipped out the sewing machine and sewed the spanx tighter. Now I'm uncomfortable again, but not so worried about my results not being good. I also ordered the exact same garment they gave me only in a Medium instead of small and also in brief bottom instead of thigh length. My thighs were squeezed so tight in the one they gave me! The binder is more annoying. That is what causes me not to be able to bend over. I went to work 4 days after the procedure. Yes it took 5 whole minutes for me to get in the car and it hurt to sit up and drive, but I made it and today is much better. I'm taking it one day at a time. As for the results, they are great! I love looking at it when I have those 20 minutes out of the garment to shower. My stomach is flatter and my once-love handles are now curves. Its exciting to know that its all still swollen and will go down even more. My pants are too big in the waist now even with the garments on. The tummy tuck stitch is quite long but soo worth it not to have skin hanging. My advice. Be patient with seeing results and STICK TO THE GARMENT SCHEDULE. Whatever you look like in the garment is what you will look like outside of it when you are finally healed.

Thanks to you all for the advice. I am not going to give up the diet and exercise plan, but I have had enough of looking at the boulges! Regarding the choice of doctor, I am being careful. I have my first consultation in a few weeks time with a specialist who so far has giving me very good advice. Here in Italy there are not many doctors specialising in this type of technique and the ones that do are all highly experienced. However not much info can be found on the net on forums, because the women undergoing this type of treatment are too few! I am thinking now of waiting at least a year to see the results of the exercise plan and to avoid falling ill and let work and babies down. I will carry on reading this very informative forum and wish you all the best of luck. X

@Schlau- I'm happy so far with my results. It's been about 4 weeks, I still have the rest to do they couldn't finish that day because of my size (I was told to small for all the numbing and epinephrin) and my Dr. went on vacation the next day. I have soreness in some areas and cant really run or stretch which is making it challenging to exercise. I learned that there is nothing you can do short of not ever eating and working out to get rid of those areas your body stores fat. As you age it's your body settling and genetics. If you want to live your life on that strict diet and working out vigorously then you may see results eventually. The lipo doesn't mean you get to eat whatever you want. You have to eat healthy and workout but it will get rid of the fat stored in the areas you cant.

I am just now considering having the lipo laser, but, after reading your comments, I am seriously thinking of delaying it. I have been on a strict diet for 1 month, jogging every day for 1H, but getting little results (Kg 2.5 in 1 month!). Since my last pregnancy my methabolism has changed and cannot lose fat easily like before. I have lo lose around 15Kg (2 stones roughly) and 2 dress sizes (from 16 to 12). I should do the lipo laser on thighs (inner and outer); belly (upper and lower); hips and maybe bum. A lot of lipo! What do you advise? Should I wait a few more months to see if a few more pounds can be shifted naturally? Also, for the ones who experiences lumps: did you manage to get rid of them or are they permanent? Did you have to lose a lot of weight like me? Thanks for your comments. X

I had SmartLipo yesterday on my chin, inner thighs, bra rolls and lower back/waist. This morning I have very little pain, I'm up walking around no problem! The chin area is a little sore, but not too bad. I was able to sleep fine, can get up and down without pain. I took a sneak peak last night when I washed my garment (it was COMPLETELY soaked after the ride home) and all I can say is WOW! I realize the swelling will kick in soon, but I can tell you IT WAS SOOOOO WORTH IT!!! Btw, my doctor is Dr. Stanley Okoro in Atlanta. I highly recommend him! The procedure itself was not bad. I had 2 xanax, a pain pill, antibiotic and an anti-nausea pill before. I could feel a little twinge every now and then, but it wasn't bad at all. Also, I'm 52 5'5" 147 lbs (before of course). I'm fairly athletic, lift weighs and run but had these pockets of fat that Ive had my whole life and don't respond to weight loss or exercise.

Can't believe that your Doc didn't give you any pain meds. My doc prescribed
pain meds before surgery and afterwards. I have no nerve damage after my
procedure. Sounds like you had a terrible experience.

Hi SmartlipoCA,
How wonderful that your doctor gave you pain medication to take home with you.
If your doctor was not a board certified plastic surgeon, you may want to watch for nerve damage as the days pass. If you get the blow torch feeling, I would highly recommend seeing a nerve damage physician, and your primary care physician to monitor your progress. Good luck to you!

Hi just had smart lipo performed yesterday morning (7/12/12). I am 33 years old, 5'9" and weight about 165 pounds. I had the procedure done in my abdomen. I'm not sure how much they took out, but it wasn't going to be that much. So far I have had minimal pain. I do not have a physically hard job and I would have been able to go back to work today. I slept fine last night and have taken 4 pain pills so far, but probably would have been fine with Tylenol. I have not been sick, etc.

I am able to perform all daily household chores (dishes, laundry, cooking, walking up and down stairs), with minimal discomfort. Basically, I just feel a little swollen and some minor tightness. I have had worse pain after a particularly strenuous workout.

I had my smartlipo on June 19th, and the puckering, hard knots, and cobblestones are now turning into sink holes. I had to fire my smartlipo doctor because I felt the entire procedure from start to finish for 3 & 1/2 hours and was given no pain meds when I asked for them during or after surgery. I am seeing a Board Certified plastic surgeon in a few days and a pain management doctor for the blow torch feeling in my nerve endings of my upper/lower abdomen, hips and love handles. All I can say is please do your due diligence before hiring anyone to work on your body. You only have one body and one cahnce to have it done right. I will keep you posted after I see the other doctors.

I am 3 weeks post upper/lower abs and flank area. Can see a noticeable difference in lower area as that eas my problem area after c-section 3 years ago. Very active 120 and training for a triathlon in September. Today i was given okay to start back up with my training so excited about that. Stomach area feels pretty good but love handle area is still really sore. Hoping as i start being more active again my middle will tighten up and look better as i had high hopes this kind of money would produce better results. Today nurse told me it takes at least one month for your body to flush out all the broke up fat thhe laser

Hi everyone, just wanted to post a comment on how I'm going. It is nearly almost a year now since I got my surgery, and yes, I had a touch up. I had my stomach and love handles done. I was in a lot of pain but healed nicely. I only wore the garment for the minimum amount of time recommended. I have gained some weight since the surgery but my shape has held nicely and I am very happy. The weight went onto my breasts, hips and legs, but I don't mind curves as long as my stomach remains flat, which it has. Thought you all needed to hear a success story, I am very pleased I did it!

Thank you for your posts. I had smartlipo on my upper & lower abs, love handles, and hips just 8 days ago. The pain I felt during the procedure was unbearable and I was told by my surgeon and his staff that I am a minority in this regard...however, I see by the posts here that many suffered as I did and it is not JUST ME as I was told after all.

That is refreshing to find even though I am sorry for anyone who went through that kind of pain. 8 days out, I am in more pain than the first 2 or 3 days. Arnica and Bromelain are helping with the bruising and I find that over the counter pain meds have no effect on the level of pain I am having. I didn't sleep last night at all as it hurts to lay down, sit up, stand, and walk. 8 days out feels as though I played a very rough professional football game for many hours without the benefit of any padding whatsoever.

I have asked my surgeon for a pain med prescription as he promised in our consultation should I have needed it, so I can manage this pain until it gets better and he sent a cryptic note back that he can not prescribe it.

I was told that the surgery would not hurt, only pain would be in applying the lidocain before surgery which felt as if I were being stabbed repeatedly. I never did get numb. I was told that I would only be slightly sore, as if I had run a small track meet, and that everything would be easy.

As much as I was hopeful this would be the case it has not been my experience at all.

Massaging these tender spots is all but impossible to do, yet I am afraid not to do it.

I developed a fever of 101 a couple days after surgery and flu like symptoms while I have not had a cold in so many years it is hard to remember.

I sense that my body is so stressed from pain, and trying to recover that my resistance and immune system are weak. I am so very hopeful each hour that passes that I will feel better, and so far that isn't happening.

I am 125 lbs, 5 ft 6 inches tall and a youthful 56 years of age.

My tummy is somewhat flatter and I am beginning to question if it was really so bad to begin with.

I am doing all I was told to do to the letter.

This has been a reality check for sure.

PS My surgeon seemed like a very nice man in my 2 consultations with him before I had the surgery. Before the surgery and during and after the surgery, this Doctor had a completely different personality. The numbing medication did not work for me, nor did the tranquilizer he provided, nor did the laughing gas...I begged for sedation during surgery and at least some pain medication and received nothing. The doctor and his nurse were both extremely irritated with me during my surgery because I kept asking that he put me to sleep due to the pain. This office promised I would not suffer, yet the surgeon refuses to write a prescription for anything to help with the pain even though he promised he would in our consultation.

I do wish he and his staff would have prepared me better for the reality of the procedure and recovery. if I had known the truth, I would not have done this and would have just lived with the tummy I had.

Good luck to everyone. I hope your result makes it all worth while.

When did you guys start to see results? I am now exactly 3 weeks post smartlipo (upper/lower abs and love handles) and still nothing :( I mean, I'm feeling much better, it doesn't even hurt any more, but it looks like I'm still swollen and I haven't lost any inches or weight.

I had SmartLipo on May 18,2012 on my upper and lower abs. I feel as though I made the work mistake of my life. I am starting to see some body changes, but I am still in a considerable amount of pain. It has been 5 weeks, I went back to work 4 days later and had to take pain medication to work and maintain some conististency. I feel like some one burnt my stomach with hot oil. Think twice about, I do know every person experiences are different. I had lots of scar tissue from a prior surgeries.
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I went to work a week and a half after I had it. I am still numb and it is has been 2 months. It goes away little by little. It's just going to take time.

I found that I can tolerate the garment a little better by wearing it over the Spanx, but not for extended periods of time. If I could get the swelling to go down just a tad, I think it would be the perfect combo. The Spanx are so soft and stay in place and provides a barrier between my skin and those itchy zippers on the garment. I definitely can't go without wearing anything for support. I took a shower yesterday and just that small amount of time without having any type of compression made me hurt bad! Thank you for your input! :) Good luck to you too! Hope you continue to see good results!

I had my abdomen (upper & lower) done on March 1st. I STILL have pain every day. I hated the compression garment they gave me but I found if I went without it for more than a few hours I became more painful. The garment helps hold you in so the swelling will go down sooner. (It does take a long time for the swelling to go down), I still have some swelling, and I'm told it could take up to a year before you really feel healed. I wouldn't switch to the Spanx, I have one of those and comparing to the garment I received from the doctor, it doesn't have as much compression. I wore mine for 8 weeks, and still wear it occasionally. My tummy is noticeably slimmer but I still have those wrinkles, I hope the skin will continue shrinking. I wasnt overweight to begin with, I just had that tummy bulge. I would like to have my flanks done but we'll see. Good luck in your recovery!