3 months ago, I had six pack surgery. First pic is 1 month post, second after 3 months. Why does the second look worse? (Photo)

Thank you for questions regarding VASER hi-def 6 pack or abdominal etching.  Thank you for including your pictures.  What you are showing in your pictures is a very common time sequence.  One month after your surgery, you are still healing.  In fact, it can take many months to see the final results.  During the first 4 to 8 weeks, you will have episodic swelling.  I believe in the first picture, you have swelling around the surgical areas and even swelling within the muscle itself.  Your picture 3 months after surgery is more accurate because most of the swelling is gone.  In addition, I believe you have probably burned more fat and burned some of the fat that still remained on top of the rectus muscle.  Therefore, in the second picture, the swelling is gone, you have probably lost even more fat.  You should also get a scale to weigh your percent body fat.  I believe in the first picture; your body fat was higher than your second picture.  This would correlate to loss of "muscle definition" of the anterior abdominal wall.  Thank you for your excellent question regarding the appearance of your abdomen after VASER hi-def or 6-pack abdominal etching.  If you have any more questions regarding the VASER hi-def 6-pack surgery or abdominal etching in general, please contact my office.  Sincerely, Dr. Katzen

Hello,I see your concern.  In my opinion at two months you are in the initial phase of healing.  It is too soon to judge, let alone if you need a touch up procedure.  In the initial 4 to 6 months I recommend optimizing your healing by weight stability, regular activity, focal massage, and low salt diet.Best wishes,Dr Sergio Maggidrmaggi.com

You have swelling which can last 3-6 months after your procedure.  To improve your final results, I also recommend adding vanquish for further fat removal, exilis/venus legacy for skin tightening, cellutone/z wave to make the skin smooth, remove scar tissue, and improve the skin’s appearance. See an expert. Best, Dr. Emer

Hi Aiste1234, It is a common question in my office from patients who came with a previous Abdominal etching complaining of worsening in the results. I may tell you:
 You must wait until the swelling dissapears, it could take more or less than 12 months, during this time, the great work that your doctor did will be more obvious.I will say that there is 2 types of Abdominal etching: With lipoinjection and without lipoinjection. The first one maybe in the short term will provide the best aspect, because you will see a big well defined six pack, but with the time, if you gain weight again it will take the form of a six lumps instead of a six pack. In the same way, if you loose weight, your six pack could get smaller. In the other hand, the Abdominal etching without lipoijection, requieres a previously abdominal rectus muscles well defined or almost palpable on the exam, like Dr. Pober said before. In this way when the fat is aspirated the six pack gets a better definition.Speak to your surgeon, he may help you to understand better your actual situation because he performed the procedure.
Best of luck,

Your have a nice result. 3 months is an early stage and your final outcome should be judge closer to 1 year. Not a clear explanation why it would look better before but neither before or at 3 months is the true final result. Talk to your surgeon if you have questions and give yourself some more time to recover. Continue with your workout, it can only make it better. Good luck!