Can I take a flight and go for a vacation after chin liposuction?

Assuming you are seen the day after your procedure (to be sure there are no hematomas (blood collections)) it is reasonable to fly 3 days after your procedure.  If you were my patient, I would have you come back to the office before you flight (if it were under one week from time of procedure) and we would rewrap your head with a compression wrap just to be sure you would not have any issues during travel.As far as activity, certainly it would be advisable not to raise your blood pressure or strain for the first week post procedure.  Starting on the second week, I typically advise patients to start moving more and exerting themselves a bit.  I always tell them to "listen to their neck".  If the neck starts to swell or feel odd during increased activity, I advise them to slow down.Results from chin lipo are very obvious and noticeable immediately after surgery.  The first few days create some swelling which makes the result appear not as impressive, but even after just one week you should be able to see some significant positive changes.

With my technique you could fly same day!  back to work next day.  It is done under local and some sedation  It takes about 30 minutes to perform.  

Liposuction of the chin and neck is a very simple and straightforward procedure performed under local anesthesia. You can travel the same day as the operation.

I have my patients wait 24 hours to go on a flight.  Normally after neck/chin liposuction, if done with water assistance and local tumescent anesthesia, you are fine to do normal activity with a compression on the next day.  My patients require neck compression for 3 days post procedure all day and then 7 days over night only.  I wish you the best, Dr. Emer.

I would say that the immediate recovery period after liposuction under the chin is about a week.  There normally is some immediate improvement but there will also be some swelling, which can temporarily alter the appearance.  It is also possible for some bruising to develop after the procedure.  Strenuous activity should be avoided for a week or two as well.  It can take a few months for the healing process to occur before seeing the final results.  In regards to flying after the procedure, this decision would be up to your surgeon.  

First,  it is important that you have adequate followup with your surgeon, so that they can answer all of your questions and check the healing process to  make sure you are healing well before deciding to go on vacation in your recuperation period. It is probably best to stay close to your surgeon for 10-14 days befor going on vacation. Full healing in the neck takes a couple of months for all of the  swelling to subside.

I just realized you are in San Francisco, and I have a patient scheduled for chin liposuction on June 3rd.Coincidence?I will leave it at that.Flying after liposuction is, at times, a concern because of the increased risk of developing blood clots in the large veins in the legs, thighs or pelvis.These are called deep venous thrombosis, or DVTs. These types of blood clots can potentially break loose and travel to the lungs (pulmonary embolisms) and be fatal.While this seems rather dramatic, everything has to be put into context.Very few people who do develop blood clots end up having pulmonary embolisms.There are many risk factors for developing these blood clots.The most important risk factors are history of forming blood clots, major surgery such as orthopedic surgery or pelvic surgery using general anesthesia, age of the patient and lengthy operations.There are also minor risk factors. One of those is sitting still for long periods of time such as on a long flight.The risk of developing a blood clot on a flight is dependent on the length of the flight. Generally, flights longer than six hours can be of concern. Shorter flights are generally considered to not add any significant risk for developing blood clots. An interesting fact is people sitting in the window seats are at a slightly higher risk than those in the aisle seats presumably because those in the window seats are less likely to get out of their seats during the flight.Many people recommend getting up to stretch and to doing some leg exercises while seated, such as stretching your toes, while taking long flights.Having liposuction of the chin has a VERY low risk of developing a blood clot, and even long flights are overall considered very safe. I perform chin liposuction without the use of general anesthesia. I personally would be comfortable flying immediately after having liposuction of the chin.Best of luck,Mats Hagstrom, M.D.