Extremely hard abdomen - will it ever go back to normal? Almost a year since the surgery (Photo)

Question

I am a 50 year old female and had a BBL with fat transferred from my abdomen . I now have an EXTREMELY hard abdomen and rippled skin. I've been spending months getting Lymphatic massages and although it has helped some, I'm wondering is there another procedure or a faster process to fix this. Will my abdomen EVER go back to normal? It has been almost a year since the surgery.

Andre P. Marshall, MD · Answer

Hi pn6761, 
The skin can change in different ways after liposuction, oftentimes this can be unpredictable. Lymphatic massages are very helpful as you know. Swelling after liposuction can take over a year to completely resolve in some patients. It's always best to get advice from your board certified plastic surgeon as to his or her best recommended course of treatment at this time, especially since they know your body the best. 
Dr. Andre P. MarshallDouble Board Certified Plastic SurgeonBeverly Hills, CA 90210

Daniel Barrett, MD · Answer

Dear pn6761,
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

Camille Cash, MD · Answer

Contour irregularities are one of the risks from liposuction.  It may be that too much fat was removed during your procedure resulting in the hard abdominal irregularites.  Typically lymphatic massages are helpful, but your results may be permanent without further surgical intervention.

Darryl J. Blinski, MD · Answer

With only 1 very poorly posted photo very hard to advise if additional surgery could improve your results of lipo of the abdomen. Are you a scar former? Where drains used in the abdomen after the lipo? Did you have an abdominal seroma form? Did you use a clinic for surgery? So you see better posted PHOTOS and answers to many questions are needed. If you want virtual consult with....

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

If you want us to make an assessment on the outcome of a surgical procedure then you need to post proper before and after pictures. If you don’t have before pictures and contact your provider and ask them to forward the pictures they took. Have you had a follow up with your hopefully board-certified plastic surgeon?
Would you describe is not normal and sounds like someone was far too aggressive removing virtually all of your subcutaneous fat. This leaves people with basically only skin scar tissue and muscle as their abdominal wall. as more and more fat is removed more and more scar tissue forms and when there is so little fat left all you have in the end it’s car tissue that feels firm. Liposuction is a permanent and irreversible procedure. The inherent problem I’m guessing based on the very limited pictures and information is that you now have been left devoid of any subcutaneous fat to speak of on your abdominal wall and instead have an abundance of scar tissue.
Massages will not change the final outcome of liposuction procedures and cannot reverse the problems from having had too much fat removed.
Unfortunately Liposuction is a permanent and irreversible procedure that can leave people disfigured. For that reason I on a daily basis warn people to be very careful about properly choosing providers who have sufficient skill and experience to deliver quality consistent results.
My general recommendations are to not travel long distances for elective surgical procedures to always have multiple in person consultations before committing to having surgery. During each consultation ask each provider to show their entire collection of before and after pictures especially outcomes that do not represent their best results but instead show average results and results that are slightly less than average. simply sing pre-selected sample pictures which most likely represent the best results of a providers career is insufficient to get a clear understanding of what the average results look like in the hands of each provider.
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 than having an abundance of positive reviews.
While we cannot make a good assessment based on such limited pictures I think it’s going to be very difficult to improve upon this. Non-surgical treatments will not improve the outcome which is purely based on how the procedure was perfored 
Delivering consistent quality liposuction and fat transfer results is more difficult than most people believe it. This is why patients need to put a substantial amount of time and effort into finding the most talented local providers in their community.Revision work is many times more technically difficult than Primary Liposuction saw the importance of finding the most talented and experienced providers at this point goes without saying. Anybody who believes this can easily be improved especially by simply going in and breaking up scar tissue using energy devices like VAS ER should probably be avoided. 
First and foremost follow up with your provider. After that if that does not give you any kind of resolution then you’ll probably need to have proper second opinion in person consultations.
Make sure you get all your before and after pictures including a copy of your operative report from the provider who did your procedure.
 Finally you may want to consider writing an honest and professional review about your experience to tell others what the procedure was like for you.
Best,
Mats Hagstrom MD

Jose A. Munoz, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

Hi and welcome to our forum!From your photos, I note a skin contour deformity associated with areas of apparent firmness and other areas of soft tissue depression. There is noted to be exaggeration of the "skin pores" of the abdomen (known as peau d' orange), suggesting that there is still significant swelling present. You have already undergone a course of therapeutic massage. "Tincture of time" may be the best modality at this point as it takes 12-18 months for all swelling to subside. At that point, further treatment will be dictated by its appearance which will most likely change from its present appearance.During the interim, ultrasound or radio frequency treatments may hasten resolution of the process. Continue follow-up care with your plastic surgeon.Best wishes...

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