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.