Post procedure instructions. What kind of restrictions are there after upper arm liposuction?

Thank you for your question about recovery from arm liposuction.

For specific questions like this and about your recovery in general, it is best to speak directly with your doctor or doctor’s representative – such as his or her nurse, or the physician on call for the practice.

You will likely get many differing opinions from members of the RealSelf Community, but they have not personally seen or examined you. Nobody should know you or your unique set of circumstances better than your doctor.

If you feel you are not being listened to or you are doubting your doctor’s recommendations, then it is certainly within your rights to seek a second opinion and get the advice from another board certified physician. This should be done through an in-person consultation with a thorough evaluation, including a review of your history, review of all prior treatment and with a physical examination.
Obviously, if you think that you are having a medical emergency or other serious problem, you should call 911 and/or go to your nearest emergency room.

Best Wishes.

Dear Tami02,
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, MD
Certified, American Board of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Plastic Surgery
Member, American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery

After upper arm liposuction, it’s important to follow your surgeon’s specific post-procedure instructions, as they may vary depending on the individual case. However, here are some common restrictions and guidelines that are often recommended:1. Compression Garments: You’ll likely need to wear compression garments on your arms to reduce swelling and support healing process. Follow your surgeon’s recommendations regarding how long to wear them.2. Rest and Recovery: Rest is crucial for the initial days following the procedure. Avoid strenuous activities, and keep your arms elevated to minimize swelling. 3. Pain Management: Your surgeon may prescribe pain medication to manage any discomfort. Follow the prescribed dosage and instructions.4. Hydration and Nutrition: Staying well-hydrated and maintaining a balanced diet can aid in the healing process.5. Gentle Movements: While rest is essential, gentle arm movements are encouraged to prevent stiffness and promote circulation. Avoid lifting heavy objects and overexerting yourself.6. Avoid Sun Exposure: Protect your incision sites from sun exposure, as they can be sensitive and prone to discoloration. 7. Follow-Up Appointments: Attend all scheduled follow-up appointments with your surgeon to monitor your progress and ensure proper healing.8. Swelling and Bruising: Expect some swelling and bruising, which is normal after liposuction. It should subside over time.9. Scarring: Properly care for incision sites to minimize scarring. Your surgeon may recommend scar creams or treatments.10. Gradual Return to Activities: Your surgeon will advise you on when it’s safe to resume regular activities, including exercise and work.Always consult with your surgeon to get instructions and address any concerns you may have about the recovery process.

You will wear compression garments for 3 months. You have no limitations on lifting, but exercise with lots of movement like running and zumba will be restricted up to 4 weeks.

Post operative instructions will vary from surgeon to surgeon. Compression is often helpful to manage swelling and help tissues heal. It is worn up to 23 hours a day for several weeks, depending on surgeon's preference. You will likely have lifting and activity restrictions for up to six weeks.

If you have surgery scheduled then your surgeon that should have reviewed postoperative instructions with you during the consultation.
If you do not have a plastic surgeon or have not had a consultation then you should begin my first getting a quality assessment and begin the vetting process to find the best plastic surgeon for this procedure.
Delivering consistent quality liposuction results is more difficult than most people believe. A substantial number of Wellington did well trained board certified plastic surgeons for the overall good reputation or not particularly good at Liposuction.
I am a technically more challenging than other parts of the body and considering the liposuction results are permanent and irreversible and that the variation and outcome can be drastic depending on who does seizure it is in patient interest to spend a significant effort in finding the right provider.
The first step is to get an assessment so you have a good understanding of what the procedure can and cannot accomplish. for a Arms this is basically differentiating subcutaneous fat versus skin laxity and getting a good understanding of how thick your fat layer actually is and knowing what the procedure can and cannot accomplish.
To get an accurate assessment you need a sufficiently talented and experienced plastic surgeon to examine you, explain your candidacy and differentiate the different variables.
The vet plastic surgeon and find the right provider I suggest having multiple in person consultations which will give you confirmation of your assessment and also help you find the right provider.
It’s a good idea to start by having pictures of your arms the same way plastic surgeons take before and after pictures.
I prefer to take before and after pictures with the arm and the down position but others use different anatomic position. With the arms held straight out you will see skin laxity if you have it more than you will see subcutaneous fat.
Plastic surgeon approach to what parts of the arm should be treated and how much varies greatly.
Some treat s circumferentially and others do not. I personally do and find it to be far superior. Some people liposuction over the deltoid while others do not. Someone will blend into the forearm and others do not.
With printed copies of pictures of your own arms schedule consultations at which point you should ask each provider to open up their portfolio and show you their entire collection of before and after pictures of the farm Liposuction results.
Bring your pictures with you and ask the provider to only show you results a previous patient who had similar arms to your own.
This means the same overall size, amount of body fat and more than anything similar level of skill laxity.
Look very carefully at the results making sure there are no skin contouring irregularities anywhere on the treated areas. make sure you ask exactly what areas will be included and what areas will not be included with the treatment.
Confirm that by looking at before and after pictures the provider has presented you to make sure all the areas they claim to be included show good signs of improvement on the after pictures.
You can look at some of my results I have posted on this website under my profile. my personal profile has been skeletonized because I no longer pay this website. I do believe they still have my before and after pictures and they should be available if you click on them under the category of Liposuction.
For reference I typically state that an experience provider should have no difficulty showing patients at least 50 set a before and after pictures of commonly performed procedures. Liposuction is definitely One of the most common cosmetic surgical procedures and arms represent about 20% of the cases I do. At a minimum I would expect a competent experienced surgeon to at least be able to show you a 20 set of armor Liposuction before and after pictures of patients who have similar characteristics to your own arms.
Being shown a handful of preselected images representing the best result of the providers career is totally insufficient to get a clear understanding of what the average results look like or how many of the procedures that surgeon has performed.
When reviewing before and after pictures make sure that the arms are in the exact same position in before and after pictures. this includes arm rotation which can drastically improve the results with arm supination. Arm pronation tends to let the skin laxity hang down while supination tends to pull up on skin laxity making me up at better.
The great majority of plastic surgeons do not go out of their way to manipulate before and after pictures of patients should always serve as their own advocate and confirm that before and after pictures are taken accurately and honestly.
Look at the relationship of the arm to the torso to make sure after pictures are not zoomed out.
Arms can give a spectacular transformative result when it comes to Liposuction and can also leave horrific deforming divots that are irreversible and cannot be corrected.
The number of plastic surgeons that can make an accurate assessment followed by showing truly representative quality before and after pictures in sufficient numbers to give a clear understanding of what is it and is not possible highly consistent outcomes with consistent hi patient satisfaction is unfortunately somewhat rare.
Liposuction is unfortunately seen as a simplistic procedure by too many providers. Simply removing fat may not be technically difficult but to deliver a consistent quality result and making accurate assessment and accurately predicting exactly what results will look like and demonstrating that through series of before and after pictures is a different story.
Do you know correct number of consultations patients need to find the right provider but the more consultations you have the better you’ll get add vetting plastic surgeons and increasing your chance of finding the best provider.
Do you know correct number of consultations patients need to find the right provider but the more consultations you have the better you’ll get add vetting plastic surgeons and increasing your chance of finding the best provider. liposuction result has more variation in outcomes purely based on provider selection than any other plastic surgery procedure I have ever seen. Deformation from Liposuction is unfortunately not uncommon.
This includes work done by well intending experienced board-certified plastic surgeons with good reputations.
Mastering Liposuction takes years of dedicated devoted experience being highly critical of your own results with a commitment to always improving.
For individuals who don’t believe Liposuction is a complex procedure nor has a high learning curve that simply never happens.
It is also a procedure that is permanent, irreversible and extremely difficult to improve upon if The procedure is not done correctly the first time.
You don’t have to look very far on this website to find plenty of patients asking “what do I do now” after realizing your liposuction results were drastically different than what they had anticipated or had been told.
For this procedure I recommend patient be hyper vigilant and more selective than you think you need to be.
Look for plastic surgeons who specialize in liposuction. these providers will have hundreds or even thousands of before and after pictures because they do the procedure on a regular basis.
I suggest patients have a minimum of five consultations and considering scheduling more.
There are corporate cosmetic surgery centers in many cities.
Some of these have good reputation and others not so much.
There are advantages and disadvantages to go into a specialty center.
As long as you can have an in person consultation and that provider can show you sufficient numbers of before and after pictures but they themselves I’ve done in the specialty clinic may be highly appropriate.
As long as you can have an in person consultation and that provider can show you sufficient numbers of before and after pictures but they themselves I’ve done in the specialty clinic may be highly appropriate.
If you instead find yourself talking to a commission sales person with no plastic surgeon to be found you’re probably in the wrong place.
When in doubt slow down and schedule more consultations.
Quality consultation should not have you walking out having questions about the recovery.
For reference my consultations typically take 30 to 60 minutes followed by another 30 to 40 minutes with my patient care coordinator.
Patients are given contact information and they’re always able to contact us before and after surgery if they have questions that come up.
When in doubt slow down and schedule more consultations.
This is the procedure you want to absolutely do ones and do right.
You will be reminded every day for the rest of your life so please take the effort to properly bad providers and schedule sufficient number of consultations to make sure you’re in the hands of a sufficiently talented and experience provider.
Being nice abs but it’s not sufficient to make sure someone pass the skillet experience they need to deliver consistent quality results.
I’ve been a board-certified plastic surgeon for 22 years. My practice has been devoted exclusively to doing only liposuction and fat transfer procedures for the last decade. i’ve done over 8000 liposuction procedures and I’ve answered over 12,000 questions on this website pertaining to Liposuction and fat transfer on this website. I’m not compensated for answering questions but do so to help minimize the chance people being disfigured from Liposuction.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD

Hi and welcome to our forum!Each plastic surgeon has their own unique postoperative protocol for each procedure, based upon their training and years of clinical experience. The compression sleeve is used to prevent postoperative bleeding and to control postoperative swelling. In our practice, we recommend continuous postoperative upper extremity compression for a period of 4-6 weeks, depending upon the extent of postoperative swelling. Some limitation of pushing, pulling, liting, and carrying will be required for a week or two.Premature exercise may result in blood pressure elevation and may cause postoperative bleeding. We discourage exercise for a period of 6 weeks after surgery.Visit a board certified plastic surgeon for evaluation and discussion.Best wishes...

how long you need to wear the arm garment should vary for each patient. How long i recommend a garment be worn depends on the skin tone. It can be from one week to 12 weeks and will vary depending on how I asses their skin tone. Not everyone is a good candidate for upper arm liposuction.

I am a huge fan of Smartlipo - also called laser lipo and i have done over 1,500 cases in my office. you don't need general anesthesia - only local and oral sedation and you can return to work the next day.

david berman md, frcsc