How Painful is Inner/outer Thigh Liposuction Compared with the Abdominal Liposuction?

Question

I had abdominal liposuction four weeks ago and it was pretty painful. I'm wondering how much the thighs usually hurt during liposuction. I'm scheduled for Friday.

Dhaval M. Patel, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. It is hard to say because everyone has a different pain tolerance. Although, in my opinion most patients tend to have more pain in the abdominal area. There still may be some discomfort in the inner and outer thigh area. This also depends on how aggressive the liposuction is. Best of luck!Dhaval M. Patel Double board certifiedPlastic surgeonHoffman Estates Barrington OakbrookChicago

Ron Shelton, MD · Answer

Your question is asking how painful is the liposuction on the thighs compared with the abdomen during the procedure, not after. Physicians do peform liposuction differently with some patients being totally awake, maybe taking an oral anti-anxiety medication, and maybe some pain killer while the liposuction is done with tumescent local anesthesia. The upper abdomen can be tender if the lower rib area feels the motion of the cannula or the umbilicus can be tender if the anesthetic does not reach all the areas. This can happen if the doctor is reluctant to administer enough local anesthetic in this very sensitive area because it is hurting the patient too much so they hope the anesthetic diffuses to the area but then finds during the procedure it's not numb enough. That's why extra care is taken to slowly and comfortably administer the local anesthetic to these sensitive areas. If not enough time lapses in between the administration of the local anesthetic and the surgery or if there is scar tissue from prior surgeries, there may be a lack of anesthetic where needed and there can be more pain during the procedure. Other surgeons will have their patients sedated so that there is no pain during the procedure but the risks of the interaction of sedation and the large volume of tumescent anesthetic along with the daily medication that patients need to take for their other conditions, have to be considered. Usually the pain during the liposuction of the thighs and abdomen is very minimal if at all, during tumescent liposuction if the local anesthetic works well.

Steven Turkeltaub, MD · Answer

The amount of pain or lack thereof that you experience from liposuction is quite variable depending on the technique, instrumentation, plastic surgeon and other factors. Even a partcular patient's responses can vary at different times.

	With this in mind, you probably will not have a tremendous difference in discomfort from what you experienced with your abdomen.

Steven Wallach, MD · Answer

The discomfort that you sustained from your previous liposuction may be the same for you when you go ahead and have it on the thighs, but it is hard to predict.

George Commons, MD (retired) · Answer

Pain varies from person to peraon. I have operated on over 3600 lipo patients and 16000 sites. After all of this experience I would say the tummy is more sensitive than the thighs Pn most people. After surgery, on day one post op, I have patients take 400 mg of ibuprofen at every meal. This helps. Also meticulous avoidance of salt helps. Often the garments help most patients and offer comfort. Gentle progressive walking offer safety and comfort post op to many. Good luck.

How Painful is Inner/outer Thigh Liposuction Compared with the Abdominal Liposuction?

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