You have made a good choice in selecting SmartLipo as it has a much shorter recovery-period as compared with 'traditional' tumescent liposuction combined with its ability to provide skin-tightening for an enhanced aesthetic outcome. You should understand that as with all lipsoctions, you won't see your final/best result for a good couple of months.
My standard post-treatment protocol is to have my patients start light activities and low-impact aerobic exercise the next day. You will most likely experience significant drainage on day one, so be prepared. After 1 week, there are usually no limitations on activities.
Most of my patients with non-strenuous jobs can return to work the same day, although I recommend to wait for post-op day 2 due to the excessive draining and its subsequent inconvenience.
In your case (a job with heavy-lifing and/or strenuous activity), I would recommend waiting the full week before going back to work. This may seem conservative to some, but I tend to err on the side of patient safety versus convenience.
Good luck with your procedure!
Dr. Bernstein
Recent comments
Posted to How was your Smartlipo recovery? on 9 Oct 2008