How to fix botched arm lipo (unevenness & dents on left arm)? (Photo)

Question

I had a liposuction on my arms and I know it has been botched (unevenness and dent) on my left arm (pictures attached) I feel very self conscious about it. I asked my surgeon if he could do a revision but he told me he would by removing more fat at the top of the arm, however the incision would be in a visible area… I don’t want the incision to be obvious because my skin will scar and create a dent. Please help me understand what is the solution to my problem?

Emmanuel Mallol Cotes, MD · Answer

​Thank you for your question. It is hard to provided with a valid medical opinion with this photos.  I would suggest to be treated by board certificated plastic surgeon with experience in this procedure, to get the best desired results.

Kind Regards,
Dr. Emmanuel Mallol Cotes.-

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear Nice728761,
I understand your concern. However, without a proper assessment, it would be difficult to determine what went wrong. It is best that you visit your plastic surgeon for further assessment or ask for a second opinion. Only after a thorough examination, you can get proper recommendations and advice.
Daniel Barrett, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

Connie Hiers, MD, FACS · Answer

Your one photo is not clear about the area of concern. For an actual dent, you could try a small fat transfer and take fat elsewhere, or Sculptra injections.

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Your picture is insufficient to make an assessment on the outcome of your procedure. you also did not include how long ago your operation was.
To even begin to make an assessment we need to see quality before and after pictures including both arms.
If you don’t have a proper before and after pictures and ask your surgeon to forward the ones they took.
Delivering consistent quality liposuction results is more difficult than most people believe and this includes plastic surgeons. Patients should be aware that there is great variation in outcomes skill and confidence among different surgeons and vet plastic surgeons very carefully before considering liposuction.Being a board-certified plastic surgeon with an overall good reputation is insufficient to guarantee someone has mastered liposuction.
It is a difficult procedure to master and doing so requires years of experience for the dedication to perfection.
Liposuction results are permanent and more or less irreversible. If done poorly it becomes far more difficult to improve on the situation and surgeons who can’t do it right the first time or unlikely to make improvements with revisions.
Revision surgery is far more difficult and complex than primary Liposuction.
To find the correct plastic surgeon for any cosmetic surgical procedure but especially Liposuction I recommend patients have multiple in person consultation during each consultation ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before and after pictures. An experienced provider should have no difficulty showing you at least 50 sets of before and after pictures of commonly performed procedures like liposuction. Bring pictures of your own body for comparison and ask the provider to show you as many pictures as possible of patients with similar body characteristics. As the provider to show you examples of excellent outcomes, average outcomes and less than outcomes. Being shown preselected results which most likely represent the best results of the providers career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of an average results look like or how many of these procedures that surgeon has actually performed.
Highly experienced surgeons will have hundreds or even thousands of before and after pictures for commonly performed procedures.
We all have a variety of outcomes and it’s fair but for patients to ask to see different types of results.
When looking at before and after pictures look carefully at every area treated and look to make sure there are no skin contour irregularities anywhere on any treated area picture after picture after picture.
I also recommend patient to read all reviews on various physician review websites avoiding providers with any significant number of justified negative reviews. The absence of justified negative reviews is more important and more telling than having an abundance of positive reviews. Continue having consultations until you feel very certain you found the most talented an experience provider for your needs.
Avoid virtual consultations whenever possible and avoid traveling long distances for elective surgical procedures when possible.
In the end choosing or finding the most towns is an experienced surgeon is by far the most important variable and that should always be your first goal.
Find the right plastic surgeon and everything falls into place. If your surgeon doesn’t have the skill to do the job correctly the first time then he or she is not the right person to do the vision work even though they may do it for free or have an obligation to help you.
In the end your surgeon is responsible for the outcome of your procedure and you are responsible for choosing that surgeon.
Your picture is insufficient to make an assessment and honestly I don’t see a problem on your picture.
It looks like you’ve been wearing a compression garment and are still swollen from surgery.
Follow up with your provider reschedule proper second opinion consultations with other board-certified plastic surgeons. For second opinion consultations patient should come prepared bringing with them all proper before and after pictures and copies of your operative report. These are all available from your surgeon upon request. That they are part of your medical record which you have a right to. that is at least how it works the United States. Things may be different in Europe but I would imagine you have the right to your medical record.
If your surgery was recently performed you need to wait at least six months for the date of surgery before considering revision surgery it is generally wise to slow down and think things through carefully before jumping into a secondary procedure.
If the surgeon couldn’t do the job correctly the first time there’s an unfortunate likelihood they could make it worse by trying to correct the problem.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD

How to fix botched arm lipo (unevenness & dents on left arm)? (Photo)

Answers (4)

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