Arm Liposuction Nerve Injury - How Long to Heal?

Numbness or nerve sensations after liposuction are not unusual.  Especially three days after liposuction there is considerable swelling and possibly neuropraxia or temporary bruising of the nerves.  This is not nerve damage, but just the body's response to the insult (liposuction) as it heals.  Having itching feelings is a good sign since this means that the nerves are working.  It may take several weeks to months to have normal feeling back.

 

Good Luck with your recovery.

If the nerve is bumped by the blunt-tipped cannula during liposuction, it may go into hibernation, called neuropraxia.  The nerve doesn't function and you may feel numb until it wears off which can take more than a year to do so.

Temporary nerve injuries are not uncommon after liposuction.  Depending on the amount of injury to the nerve it may take 1-4 weeks to fully recover.  Only rarely is nerve injury permanent.

The symptoms or feelings that you describe are not uncommon during nerve healing.

A crush or traction injury to a nerve after liposuction is common.  You likely have a neuropraxia, which means the nerve is not cut, just stunned. By definition, it should get better by 8 weeks from the time of injury.  Be patient, massage the area to reduce swelling and continue to wear your compression garment.

It is very common for the arms to feel very achy and swollen following liposuction on this site. We use our arms frequently throughout the day. This activity can cause swelling in the wrists and fingers. Try to elevate your arms when you have opportunity. Even try elevating them when you get a bathroom break at work, every little bit can help. Be sure that your garment is snug also. You want to make sure to have your arms measured for your garment so you can guarantee that is the proper size. This will ensure it does NOT cause more harm than good. The "creepy crawly" feelings you are having are completely normal. Just try to bear with at and be compliant to your post op instructions and you should be very pleased with you end results. Best of Luck!

This can take days weeks or months to resolve.As the sensory nerves regenerate you have tingling,etc so leave it alone or you can do heat and massage to speed it along.

It is fairly common to have some inumbness after liposuction that usually improves shortly after the swelling subsides.  This susually gets better within 4-6 weeks.

Transient numbness after liposuction is nothing to get alarmed about.  Lipousuction, like any other surgical procedure, is trauma to the body.  The instruments used during this procedure are not sharp and therefore no vital structures are cut.  Nerves, blood vessels, etc can be bumped and bruised, but they are rarely permanently injured.  I would discuss your concerns with your plastic surgeon as he/she should be made aware of your symptoms.  Good luck!

 

Dr. Singer