Ab/flank lipo recovery. Will I be OK to travel 10 days post-op? (Photo)

Dear Iheartmylife,
I understand your concern. It is best that you consult your plastic surgeon regarding post operative care and management (i.e including massage techniques and timing) specific to your case. Your surgeon knows your condition well and has preferences on when and what to use for faster healing and recovery. Post operative care and management depends on the type of surgery performed and the technique used during surgery among other factors.It is best, however, that you follow your plastic surgeon's advice on post operative care management for a smooth and faster healing and recovery.
Daniel Barrett, MDCertified, American Board of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society of Plastic SurgeryMember, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

I suggest you talk to your provider about their recommendations, regarding travel and postoperative care. Each provider will have their own guidelines and recommendations. Liposuction is a fairly straightforward procedure with a relatively low complication rate. Still, when complications do happen it’s far better to be close to your provider. Your appearance and the amount of bruising will depend significantly on how the procedure is performed. Meticulous surgeons, who use sufficient amounts of tumescent solution and allow the solution time to take full effect before starting surgery tend to get far less bleeding and bruising after the procedure. The solution contains local anesthesia, and a drug called epinephrine. To get maximum effect of this medication I typically give patients 20 minutes after placing the solution before I begin to do Liposuction. I generally do these procedures with patients awake using local anesthesia with mild sedation. This gives me the luxury of giving patients plenty of time since operating room cost is more reasonable compared to when general anesthesia is used.
The level of aggressiveness and size of cannula can also impact bleeding and hence bruising afterwards as well.
Delivering consistent quality, liposuction results is more difficult than most people realize. I suggest patients be very selective when it comes to choosing providers for permanent irreversible body contouring procedures.
To find the right provider, I suggest patients have multiple in person, consultations with plastic surgeons, who seem to have a lot of experience doing Liposuction. During each consultation, ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before and after pictures patients with similar body characteristics to your own. An experienced plastic surgeon should have no difficulty showing you that before and after pictures of at least 50 previous patients. Being shown a handful of preselected images, representing the best results of a providers career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like, how many of these procedures they perform, or what your results are most likely to look like.
I generally view the torso as a single anatomic unit, and generally prefer to treat the entire torso when doing Liposuction. By treating the entire torso, patients are left with an even thin, fat distribution. That’s consistent throughout the torso without transition zone between treated and untreated areas. The extent of what areas are included with the procedure should be made very clear before the operation. And I most simplistic way, I consider a full torso to include upper abdomen, lower, abdomen, love handles, waist, , full back, and under arm or armpit all the way to the side of the breast.
The number of plastic surgeons of Julie mastered this procedure are in a small minority. Lasik surgeons think they’re better at Liposuction and they actually are. There is more variation and Liposuction skilled and just about any other plastic surgery procedure. Being board-certified and plastic surgery with years of experience, and an overall good reputation does not mean somebody has mastered any one single procedure, especially procedures, like Liposuction. The Procedure is deceptive because it conceptionally seems easy both the providers and patience. In reality, Liposuction by itself isn’t too complex but delivering consistent quality outcomes is.
There are a lot of nuances involved with getting consistent quality outcomes, especially the ability to aggressively remove fat and not leave any contour deformities in any part of the body.
The procedure is permanent and irreversible. If done, poorly patients can be left disfigured. Once the procedure is performed if their results are not high quality, it becomes very difficult to improve on the outcome.
In my opinion, patient do not put enough effort in properly vetting plastic surgeons and tend to not schedule enough consultations when it comes to choosing providers.
Too many patients, assume that plastic surgeons who have a good reviews and are board-certified in plastic surgery should easily be able to do liposuction well. This is the biggest mistake people make.
The best way to maximize quality outcomes is the thoroughly vet, plastic surgeons and insist on seeing enough before and after pictures to know what average results look like in the hands of each provider.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom, MD