Is swelling after tumescent lipo normal?

                  Patients
undergoing tumescent liposuction will inevitably develop swelling and pain
following this procedure.  During
the procedure, the liposuction cannula is passed through the subcutaneous
tissue.  This causes disruption of
the lymphatic channels and cellular injury.

Significant improvement in swelling
can be seen in the first three weeks following surgery, with the majority gone
in about three months.  Small
amounts of swelling may persist up to a year following surgery.

                  We
generally recommend the use of compression support garments for about three
weeks following surgery.  We also
recommend a low salt diet before and after liposuction.  Exercise is usually started early in
the post-operative period, and we want patients to ambulate as soon as possible
following surgery.

Massage is also helpful, it
decreases swelling by mobilizing retained fluid following liposuction.  All of these steps help to minimize the
duration of swelling following surgery. 
In your case, pain and swelling are normal and should resolve with
time.  Compression massage
ambulation and low salt intake will hopefully help you get there sooner.

I sounds like you are recovering normally, although you should see your surgeon if you are very concerned about the pain. The final result can usually be assessed at 3-4 months, so please wait until then. In the meantime, follow your surgeon's post-surgery care instructions closely.

Swelling goes to the direction of gravity and swelling goes from north to south and the swelling will be in the low abdomen last.  This will resolve, but avoid sitting too much and causing a crease there.  Standing and a good compression garment is good as well.

There are two reasons for swelling after tumescent liposcution. First, in the operating room fluid is injected into the fat to help with the fat removal and speed your recovery. Second, any surgery is a form of injury, and injury leads to swelling as part of the healing process.

The tumescent fluid goes away in about a day, and the swelling from the injury of surgery peaks at two to three days. After a few days the swelling will begin to subside. In most areas it goes away from the top down due to gravity pulling the fluid downwards. Less swelling at the top of the abdomen is normal. The other side of this coin is that there will be more prolonged swelling at the bottom of the abdomen.

It takes about three weeks for a significant amount of the swelling to resolve, but even at three weeks there is still swelling. You will usually notice the swelling continuing to decrease for about three months. If you look critically at photographs of liposuction, I can usually notice changes out to a year, but the amount of change becomes more subtle with time.

Properly fitted compression garments can be helpful to decrease swelling and discomfort after surgery. Medications, such as diuretics, are not usually helpful or recommended, but some herbal medications can be helpful with proper guidance.

Swelling after liposuction of any type is a normal process.  The tumescent technique for liposuction uses injection of large volumes of fluid containing local anesthetic and epinephrine to constrict the blood vessels and reduce bleeding. Much of the tumescent fluid is removed during the procedure, however, many times there is additional fluid that is left behind that can cause swelling in adjacent areas for several days.  Typically, surgical swelling reaches it peak at three days, and then dissipates gradually over the next several days to weeks.  With liposuction swelling can be prolonged due to damaged fat cells that were not removed during the procedure, loose skin which allows fluid to accumulate, or collections of blood or serum in the treatment area.  If your swelling continues to increase rather than resolve, you should see your surgeon for follow-up to make sure this is not an abnormal collection of fluid (seroma) which could require further treatment.  In most cases, the immediate result following liposuction is the best indicator of the end result.  Good luck to you.