How long do I HAVE to wear my compression garment after Lipo? (photos)

I recommend following up with your Doctor about their protocol regarding compression and making sure your garment fits correctly. I have my patients wear compression for 3-6 weeks straight then overnight for 3-6 months after their procedure. For liposuction after care, I recommend adding hyperbaric oxygen and lymphatic massage along with your compression to help decrease swelling. To improve your final results, I also recommend adding vanquish for further fat removal, exilis/venus legacy for skin tightening, cellutone/z wave to make the skin smooth, remove scar tissue, and improve the skin’s appearance. Best, Dr. Emer

hello sue1996 If you have had suction of the knees, thigh, or abdomen, the doctor will have put on a compression garment at the end of the surgery. The extra pressure this garment provides helps reduce swelling and discomfort. You should not remove this garment at all until the second or third day after surgery. After that, feel free to remove the garment temporarily for laundering. We want you to have circumferential pressure for 4-6 weeks, but you may switch to an exercise garment (Lycra or Spandex) whenever it feels comfortable to slip it on or off, as you will have to do so in order to go to the bathroom. #chin #results

Thank you for your question. Every surgeon will have his/her own preferences as to recovery for specific procedures. I  have my liposuction patients wear a compression garment (faja) covering all treated 24/7 except to shower for 4 weeks post op.  This helps ontrol swelling as the compression on your tissues helps your body to reabsorb the edema fluid that accumulates in the tissues after any procedure. This can take quite some time to happen without help from the compression garments.  It also helps improve  contour.  Compression helps to keep the tissues adherent to the underlying structures while healing, this can help prevent the wrinkled skin appearance that can happen when the tissues heal in ways we don't want them to.

Compression garments should be worn snugly covering all areas of liposuction.  My patients typically wear the garment as much as possible for six weeks to prevent irregularities of lipo.  Should the swelling resolve faster than usual, they will can tighten their garment  I have received no complaints about wearing the garment other than its itchy quality.  Wearing a soft t-shirt under it resolves this problem.If your garment is too tight, phone your plastic surgeon's office for guidance. You do not want to jeopardize results by not wearing it at all.Kenneth Hughes, MD, Board Certified Plastic SurgeonLos Angeles, CA

For the first few days of the recovery period, the patient wears a compression garment. They will then exchange this garment for a softer support garment (such as Spanx™) that will be worn for several weeks. The support garment is made so that the patient can perform normal daily activities, such as going to the bathroom, with relative ease and without taking the garment off.  It is an important part of the recovery process so stick to your surgeon's post op compression garment guidelines to get the best results from your procedure.

The post surgical protocol is there for a reason: it helps to deliver the best possible result. Not following it is only going to hurt you in the long run. I would suggest that you schedule an appointment with your surgeon's office to make sure that your garment is fitting properly, but, yes, you definitely need to wear it. Best of luck.