1 year post Liposuction - Will results get better with time? (photos)

Question

I am now one year post op since liposuction on my abdomen. I am left bumpy and lump with raspy looking skin. I recently visited the board- certified plastic surgeon who performed my liposuction and he said that I am still healing. He PROMISED me that these are not my final results and to give it another 3-6 months. He said he cannot control the timing of the healing but reassured me that the results will only get better. Am I naive to believe him? I included a photo that charts my progression.

Justin Yovino, MD, FACS · Answer

Yes, it can take time to heal and this time can vary from individual to individual. I think the surgeon's technique is also a factor to some extent when it comes to the healing timeline so following your surgeon's guidance is reasonable. With that said, I find that most of my patients are about 90% healed by 3 months. We see patients back in our office at 3 months for after photos and full comparison to the before photos. I personally inform patients that things won't typically change much beyond 3-6 months unless they lose or gain weight. Losing weight usually improves results while gaining weight does the opposite. If it's been a year, then I would consider aggressive massage treatments including endermologie and others.

Ricardo L. Rodriguez, MD · Answer

Thank you for reaching out to RS surgeons. I agree with the previous post that at 1 year post op, these are indeed your final results.  Fortunately , these irregularities can be improved somewhat with a combination of thin cannula liposuction plus fat injection to the affected areas.    However, it *may* take 2 rounds of fat transfer to get the final results due to the amount of irregularity.

I have been doing the syringe assisted thin cannula lipo procedure for over 25 years. I rarely have any deformities because I use 3mm cannula (very thin) so that the result can be fine tuned and smooth.  In addition I am emphatic about the patient wearing a medical grade compression garment during the post op period. This is critical to even and smooth healing. In my practice, the garments are included in the cost, as I am very particular about them. In addition, I perform my lipo procedures under IV sedation, as opposed to General Anesthesia.

You will not need any lymphatic massages after my procedure. It is extremely rare for any of my patients get fluid collection following liposuction.

As a precaution, I would also advise against getting any type of Laser liposuction procedure performed  to repair this. This may damage the cells beneath even further.

You can read more about my techniques at the link below. I am located in Baltimore, Maryland.

Good luck!
Ricardo L Rodriguez MD

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear dbara,
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

Darryl J. Blinski, MD · Answer

My previous response was, "Not really since you may have more denting in other areas of liipo since you are fat limited patient. I use combination of Radeisse/Sculptra injections over 3-6 sessions. Each sessions $6,000. Best to virtual consult with..."

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Your results have been final for a long time and are not gonna change with more time. Your doctor it’s just kicking the can down the road hoping you’re never going to come back to his office.
There are an awful lot of plastic surgeons with years of experience who are really not very good at Liposuction. they don’t take the procedure seriously and never bother to really learn how to do it correctly thinking that they already know how because they’ve been doing the same thing for so long.
Doctors who do not acknowledge their own bad outcomes are unlikely to ever mature and become better at what they do.
Delivering consistent quality liposuction results is more difficult than most people believe and this includes plastic surgeons.
The number of providers who can consistently deliver predictable quality results is actually quite few.
It is now after the fact for you unfortunately. for patients seeking Liposuction as a primary procedure I recommend they be very selective and personally interview multiple plastic surgeons before committing to having surgery. During each in person consultations I recommend patients ask each provider to show their entire collection of before and after pictures. Being a show and a handful of pre-selected pictures which most likely represent the best results of their career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what average results look like in the hands of each provider. An experienced provider should have no difficulty showing you at least 50 sets of before and after pictures of common procedures like abdominal liposuction.
Ask to provide her to show as many pictures as possible of patients with similar body characteristics to your own. Ask to provide her to show examples of excellent results, average results and less than results.
Look at all areas treated in the result pictures and look carefully for any areas of contour irregularities or evidence of having had bad liposuction. Asked the provider to point out what areas were treated and what areas were not treated and look carefully at transition zones between treated and on treated areas.
Continue having consultations until you found a plastic surgeon who looks like they know what they’re doing.
I also recommend reading 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.
Liposuction is a permanent and more or less irreversible procedure. Collecting poorly done Liposuction is very difficult and Revision Work is many times more difficult than primary liposuction.
If you want to attempt to improve on your outcome you are for sure going to need to find someone with far more talent than your current provider.
Attempt at improving liposuction results include revision liposuction, fat transfer, a combination of both or converting the procedure to a skin tightening operation like a full tummy tuck.
At this point your best option is probably to try to negotiate to get some of your money back. Some surgeons may be willing to do this and others will not. I would encourage you to write a review or write several reviews about your experience reflecting on it in an honest and professional manner.
Where the plastic surgeons give refunds it’s not uncommon that they ask patience to release them from any liability and this includes writing negative remarks on public forums.
It can be upsetting to recognize that you’ve been disfigured by a cosmetic surgical procedure that was intended to make you look and feel better.
Unfortunately this happens and it happens all too often with Liposuction.
Ultimately your doctor is responsible for the outcome and you are responsible for choosing that doctor.
If you want to get a proper second opinion and then schedule those as in person consultations with other plastic surgeons in your community who seem to be well-versed in Liposuction and go through the same vetting process I described above. you should come prepared for second opinion consultations by bringing with you proper before and after pictures which you should also include if you ever want someone like myself to make an assessment on the outcome of your procedure. If you don’t have your before and after pictures then ask your surgeon to forward the one they took. you should also ask for a copy of your operative report which would be good to bring with you for a second opinion consultation.
Unfortunately it’s going to be difficult to make any significant improvements on your outcome but it is very much a case dependent situation. People who were grossly over treated are the most difficult to improve upon a.
I’ve been a board-certified plastic surgeon for 22 years. The last 12 years of my practice has been spent exclusively doing only liposuction and fat transfer procedures. I have done over 8000 liposuction of procedures in my career to date.
Once upon a time my results probably looked a bit like that as well.
Today they don’t and they are very consistent.
Understanding why doing Liposuction well is so difficult it’s kind of a long complicated explanation but take my word that it is.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD

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