What can be done to treat this discoloration in my abdomen where liposuction was performed? (Photo)

You are bruised from bleeding that happened during the liposuction.
Plastic surgeons usually inject a solution of local anesthesia including the drug Epinephrine prior to doing liposuction.
It’s called tumescent solution.
It takes about 10 to 15 minutes for the drug Epinephrine to be fully effective which creates vasoconstriction and minimizes bleeding during liposuction.
Some surgeons don’t want to wait because operating room time is expensive and start doing the liposuction right away. when that’s the case patients have more blood loss and blood eventually breaks down into various different molecules. The hemoglobin in red blood cells breaks down through multiple intermediaries that are highly pigmented before it finally becomes bile. these pigmented intermediaries is what we see as the manifestation of the bruising.
It takes the body time to clear out the ruptured red blood cells that were left from the procedure.
When there’s very little blood loss patients can see bruising for 7 to 10 days. typical or moderate amounts of bruising may last for 12 to 14 days.
When there is a lot of bleeding and surgeons didn’t wait any time or use insufficient amounts of tumescent solution people can stay bruised for a few months.
The leftover blood also increases inflammation which makes the area warm and feel firm and lumpy.
The inflammation will settle down and the scar tissue that’s being formed will eventually mature and become soft.
In almost 100% of cases all the bruising will eventually go away. How long it takes kind of depends on how the procedure was performed and how much you bled during surgery.
You didn’t include how far out you are from the procedure so we can’t really give you an assessment.
Follow up with your provider if you have questions or concerns.
In most cases it takes about six weeks for patients to see something resembling final liposuction results.
Final results are typically seen around three months.
It’s not uncommon for people to be a little disappointed or concerned about Liposuction outcome within the first few weeks because swelling and the body‘s response to the procedure is different than what the final results will look like.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD