Removing Girdle After Liposuction

Dear Morena
You should follow your doctor's instructions. The traditional teaching was to wear the garment for 6 weeks- only removing for showers etc. Many surgeons have adopted less stringent guidlines - but you contacted your doctor because you trusted them to give you the results you wanted and they are the ones that should be guiding you.
With Warmest Regards.

I generally advise patients wear their garment 24 hours a day for three weeks, removing it only when bathing or washing it. From 3 to 6 weeks, wear your garment in the day only. It helps with easing swelling and reducing the risk of seroma. The garment should fit snugly but not to the point that you can't breathe or are feeling sore. It's best to follow your PS's advice or express your concerns directly to them so that they may respond.

Compression Garment Length of use varies but wearing it as much as possible the first three weeks in particular is most important. I recommend that it is off only for bathing and cleaning of the garment.


Here are the reasons A Compression Garment Necessary for Best Results following Liposuction. The length of time is highly dependent on the amount of fat removed, the elasticity of your skin, presence of stretch marks, your age and race and other factors. Bottom line is follow your plastic surgeon's advice for the best outcome.
Here are the reasons why:
Following Liposuction compression garments are required for three main reasons:
It restricts the amount of edema that forms and hastens its resolution by mechanical pressure
It decreases the amount of bruising
It assists the loose skin in retracting or shrinking
It is common for weight gain due to edema and serum that collects in the area as well as the tumescent fluid that was injected. This will resolve over time. The more you wear the garment initially the quicker this fluid resolves.
The length of time that the garment is worn varies dependent on the amount of fat removed, the elastic nature of your skin, how much loose skin remains and other factors. Your surgeon would give you the best advise. However in general this is the routine for my patients.
The first garment should be fitted for you in the office prior to surgery and applied in the operating room. Often it will become loose as the edema is mobilized and then it will need to be replaced. Spanx is a reasonable compression  garment if it gives enough support and is the right size. I have my patents bring them in and confirm that it fits well.
Most important advise is to listen to your surgeon's advice as he best knows how much fat was removed, the elasticity that remains in your skin and amount of skin redundancy.
For most patients, I recommend my patients wear their garments for a minimum of 3 weeks full time then for 12 hrs (day or night). if not a lot of redundant skin following liposuction to a maximum of 6-12 weeksTo be effective the garment needs to fit snug but not too tight as to cause pressure problems (inspect your skin if discomfort and when skin is exposed), or prevent you from sleeping. As the edema resolves it is common for patients to switch to a smaller garment that fits - A Spanx type garment would work rather than ordering one or paying more at your doctor;'s office.

There is no hard and fast rule for this. It is a good idea to wear it as much as possible, especially in the first few weeks, because it will limit the amount of swelling that you have and decrease pain. If you want to remove it for a period of time to shower or even wash the garment, for say an hour or so, It isn't going to cause any problems, except you will start to feel the swelling and have some discomfort, and probably want to put it back on. Have a nice day!