Is ultrasound therapy truly beneficial after liposuction?

In my plastic surgery practice, I have been using ultrasound after liposuction since 1984.  This technique was recommended to me by Dr. Greg Hetter, M.D.  He was one of the pioneers in liposuction in its early days.Physical therapists have been using ultrasound for years to decrease inflammation in sore muscles, to reduce  swelling, and speed the healing process.  The ultrasound modality converts sound waves into heat when it enters the body, drawing more blood supply to an area, and therefore increasing the number of white blood cells that can take away injured fat cells and the heme from broken red blood cells.  By this process, ultrasound cleans up debris in an injured area which decreases inflammation and speeds recovery.Ultrasound after liposuction in the right patient can decrease the recovery time from six months to six weeks.  However, ultrasound is not a cure-all.  If the liposuction has been done incorrectly, then ultrasound will not correct it.  To get the best results, one needs well done liposuction and an experienced ultrasound therapist.  All in all, ultrasound after liposuction is a very useful adjunct to decrease inflammation and speed the healing process.

I have tried a great variety of electromagnetic therapies for body contouring including the laser as well as ultrasound. In my opinion they are of little if any benefit. They can also do harm occasionally.

Hi, thanks for your question. Ultrasound treatment is often talked about post-liposuction but there has never been any proven objective benefit. Here’s a rare paper in which a double-blind study was conducted (so neither patient nor doctor knew if they were giving/receiving true therapy or placebo), and there was no objective difference between the groups. There was a high perceived benefit and patient satisfaction was good; it’s just they would probably have done equally well without it. I certainly don’t object to it as a treatment but it’s not something I promote either.