Wish I Could Go Back. Lipo Made Me Look Worse! - Atlanta, GA

I have 4 children, and am 36 years old. I’ve always been petite, 5’5 and between 100-118 lbs for my entire adult life. (But not during a pregnancy) I was a big gainer during my pregnancies but never had a problem losing the weight after. Since I gained big and lost big, I always had extra skin sagging and fatty areas on my legs/butt/lower back no matter how much weight I lost. I got lipo back in 2014 on my entire upper leg and butt area. I was 112 lbs then but hated the stubborn fat areas so went ahead with the procedure. What a nightmare... I swelled up like a balloon in those areas and bruised terribly. 6 weeks later I cried at how the lipo did nothing and was a huge waste of money and pain. 6 months later I did the same and so forth. That procedure ended up being a complete waste of money and do nothing to my fat. Fast forward... I noticed that those areas plus more were looking way more dimpled, cellulite way worse and the fat got twice as bad on those spots. No matter how much I exercised or ate well, it never got better. I now can’t wear skirt, short dresses and definitely not shorts. I am mortified in a bathing suit bottom. 6 years later I had an unexpected pregnancy 10 years after I had my other 3 children. Yes I am older now (36) and yes it’s harder to lose weight as you age anyway. I gained about 40 lbs in the pregnancy which was with really eating right and working out. I had a tummy tuck 4 months after she was born and lipo on my lower back so that it would all match up. Here I am a year later, devastated. Yet again - lipo ruined my back now. I didn’t used to have love handles but the lipo caused it. My body is ruined on my legs, Butt and lower back now all due to lipo. I have dimples, cellulite and fatty places now. My legs are huge and shouldn’t be with my size and weight. Lipo was the biggest mistake of my life and it is not reversible. Please do your research and learn that lipo is only temporary. The fat WILL COME BACK in the same area and usually more too. You may have severe dimpling etc. Don’t make the same mistake I did!

Worst decision of my life. Had lipo done about 5 years ago on my legs, flanks, and back. I would give anything to go back and never have done this to my body! Right after the surgery I was very bruised with so much swelling for about 6 weeks. It was way worse than expected. I tried to tell myself it would look great anytime by 6 months post op and I needed to have patience. Never has one day gone by that this looked good. My cellulite on my legs/butt got 10x worse and my legs are twice the size they used to be. I can’t even wear shorts at all and no skirts above my knee or it’s downright embarrassing. Forget wearing swimsuits and looking cute from behind, I have to stay in a skirt to cover up. I am only 115 lbs but my legs look like I should be 315 lbs with all the cellulite and craters. I work out every day religiously and eat very healthy too. My back fat also doubled and I lost my nice hourglass shape. This is by far the worst decision financially and physically I ever made! Not one good thing happened from this, my imperfections in my body just got way worse. I guess this is where I learned I should have just been happy with my little imperfections and not to mess with Gods work. I am too embarrassed to even upload before and after pics.

I am trying not to live my life in regret because it's pointless... but I feel like I need to tell other people my story to consider before they get lipo. I am 30 years old, 5'4 and at the time of surgery was 108 pounds. You're probably thinking... 'wait why did you need lipo then?' Let's back up a little. By the age of 25 I had 3 children, aged 3 and under. Between all 3 of them I gained a combined total of 150 lbs. On my frame that is a lot of weight. So, in 2011 I had a tummy tuck and muscle tightening in my stomach to get rid of the excess fat that lingered from all the weight gain. Was very happy with those results. This year I decided I was happy with my front side, but my back side still needed some help. I always had a 'bubble butt' but naturally after having kids it is bigger and sags more. I have really bad cellulite and stretch marks and after months and months of squatting in the gym, nothing was helping. So I decided to have cosmetic surgery to help get rid of the excess lingering fat and hopefully improve my skin as well.

April 22, 2014 (4 months ago) I had liposuction on my outer thighs, inner thighs, under butt, and around my knees. Total was about $5000 that I really shouldn't have spent but I figured it would be worth it to make me feel better when I looked in the mirror and wore swimsuits. The recovery was rough. I have had 2 breast augmentations, a tummy tuck/muscle tightening and 3 c-sections in my life. I am a surgery warrior. But my goodness healing from the liposuction was probably the worst of all. I bruised and swelled horribly. I had bruises for a solid 6 weeks afterwards. It was painful for the first 7-10 days but then not too bad. I kept looking in the mirror thinking my legs were just swollen and that is why they were even bigger than before. My doctor told me the same and to be patient.

Here I sit 4 months later... my legs are bigger than they've ever been and the shape is no different than before. The lipo was a complete waste of time and money. I am mad at myself for spending money for nothing, missing out on important events of friends (such as a wedding) to heal in bed and strangely can't stop gaining weight ever since. I have never had a problem with weight gain and am very active daily and eat like a rabbit. But I have continued to gain more and more weight and I am just perplexed as to why?? I am now up to 116 - 8 pounds since my surgery and trust me it's not muscle I have gained. I always feel swollen and like I have water just sitting inside my body. I am very frustrated as none of my old pants or swimsuit bottoms are fitting me.

Maybe I am just a rare case but I am very unhappy with my decision to get lipo. I would never do it again. It bothers me so much that I feel like I am going to have to go back in and get yet another surgery to help sometime this year.

Good luck to everyone out there and hopefully you will be happy with you results unlike I am if you choose to go forward with it.