How can I tell the difference between induration and fibrosis post Vaser liposuction?

Question

7 months ago I had vaser liposuction, but I still have some hardness and swelling. I had my final follow up with my surgeon recently who told me nonchalantly that the hardness is fibrosis without doing an ultrasound. 4 months ago he told me me that the hardness is induration after doing an ultrasound. I have no faith in my surgeon since if I have fibrosis he didn't take it seriously or give me any advice, so how can I tell what this hardness is?

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

It is difficult to know without any photos. If you are unhappy with your results, I would suggest consulting with a second physician for next steps. Best, Dr. Emer

Mats Hagstrom, MD (license on probation) · Answer

Most likely your procedure was technically not done very well.

Most likely you were over treated and your surgeon lacked skill and experience and left you with an uneven fat distribution.

Patient see final results by three months and it simply doesn’t take any longer than that.

In reality most people see results that are close to final results by six weeks.

Induration it just means hardness of the tissues it’s not a diagnosis it’s a descriptive term.

Fibrosis it’s also kind of a general term thrown around a lot.  It’s not a condition that some people get it’s what happens when too much fat is removed and the body has no choice but to replace it with scar tissue. It’s simply overly aggressive Liposuction that was done poorly leaving people with an uneven fat distribution. Instead of having a nice thin even layer of fat you now have insufficient amount of fat that’s uneven mixed in with scar tissue.

Scar tissue always forms after liposuction but when there is a sufficient an even fat layer it does not become symptomatic.

Liposuction is permanent and more or less irreversible.

The terminology is irrelevant.

There is no real treatment for “induration” or “fibrosis” when it comes after liposuction.

Poor liposuction results are typically treated with revision Liposuction, fat transfer or converting the procedure to a skin tightening procedure like a tummy tuck.

Without pictures we can’t make an assessment.

Revision work is much more difficult than primary Liposuction.

In the end your surgeon is responsible for the outcome and you are responsible for choosing that surgeon.

Delivering consistent high-quality Liposuction results is more difficult than people believe.

Best,

Mats Hagstrom MD

How can I tell the difference between induration and fibrosis post Vaser liposuction?

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How can I tell the difference between induration and fibrosis post Vaser liposuction?

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Everything you need to know about Liposuction

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