Can never wear shorts again
"Lipidemia" Surgery Ruined my Life
I had lower leg lipo with Dr. Amron in 2018. 8 years later, this remains the worst decision of my life, one that affects my quality of life every minute of every day. I am astounded at Dr. Amron's complete disregard of the hippocratic oath.
The standard of care with lipo is to stay 1cm away from surface of skin. Excessive superficial lipo leads to trauma to the superficial subdermal vascular plexus and a reticular hyperpigmented rash called erythema Ab liporaspriation. This is what I live with.
There is NO treatment. It does NOT improve with time.
How this has impacted my life:
1. My feet and ankles are freezing every second of every day/night due to the superficial arterial damage done by Dr. Amron. This is not your average case of cold toes. My feet do not produce their own warmth with blood flow, so I can't just wear a pair of ski socks and call it good. I HAVE to wear electric heated slippers all day at work and use an electric heating pad in bed every single night. I forgot this on vacation once and it ruined my trip. I had to run my ankles and feet under hot water in the tub for 5 minutes before bed, and then as fast as I possible could, dry them, pull on wool socks, and run under the covers before all heat was lost.
2. The rash is permament and unsightly. I've spent thousands on lasers with no improvement. I avoid exposing my lower legs. When I go to a wedding, I wear a maxi dress. I can't wear shorts to exercise. Even when it is 110 degrees out, I leave no skin exposed. Once I had to wear a knee length bridesmaid dress. I found a high coverage makeup used to cover tattoos. My legs appeared overly matte and chalky in the pictures and ruined all the wedding photos I was in.
I paid over 14k for Dr. Amron to significantly lower my quality of life. After many years of therapy, and of self-pity and depression including suicidal ideation, I have come to accept what I cannot change. An 8 yr stages of grief process if you will. I did decide not to have kids. I do avoid any sort of vacation to warm climates. And I'm limited in my fashion choices. Keep in mind I was a 28 yo woman when this was done to me.
I don't love putting this out there publically. But if I can convince one person to avoid this surgery, it's worth it. Dr. Amron should be ashamed. This is not a rare side effect. This is well-documented in the literature. When I had my first consult, he had a dermatology resident shadowing. Maybe that influenced him to offer the surgery when he otherwise would have been more judicious. I don't know. I'm not particularly inclined to give him any benefit of the doubt--he has caused me too much suffering. When I arrived for the procedure, he was surprised I had only signed up for the lower leg, and not the thighs as well. He said something like "I don't know if you'll be happy with the results." But he proceeded to operate on me anyway. I'll let you judge the ethics of that. Mind you, at no point in my consultation was the thigh mentioned. Again, maybe he was distracted by the male dermatology resident he was trying to impress.
I should have ran when he said that. Just pulled on my pants over my already marked-up legs and ran back to my AirBNB (I flew in from out of state). But I was young, intimated, and poor, and I didn't think he'd refund the 14k I'd paid him, not to mention the $ spent on flights/lodging. How I regret this.
Then while lying on the table, the RN at my head casually commented my legs looked fine to her. And they did. Slender, healthy legs that did their job. Did I look like Megan Markle? No. But the irony is, even aside from the permanent discoloration, my aesthetic results were terrible--my legs look WORSE than before because the calves are scrawny compared to my thighs.
I would pay 500k in a heartbeat to have never heard of Amron. Guys, don't go to a dermatologist for surgery (unless Mohs or similar). Only go to a board-certified plastic surgeon. And if you use Dr. Amron for any procedure, don't trust him provide proper informed consent or follow standard of care.
anniebal's provider
Another two years....
I went in crying to a Sephora and some nice lady taught me how to apply makeup to my legs. It's really super strong coverage that people use to cover tattoos.
The wedding was on a hot day in Texas. I was worried it would melt off the whole time. Rather than listening to my brothers vows. Memories ruined.
I'm 35 and I have to apply makeup to my legs in order to show even an inch of skin between rolled up jeans and booties.
Thank God I live in the Pacific Northwest. I am now limited geographically in where I can comfortably live.
Thank God I play a sport that requires long pants. Would I like to join you on a hike on a hot day, you ask? No thank you, I'll stay home in my long pants.
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Can Never Wear Shorts Again
I paid Dr. Amron to mutilate my legs in July 2018. As a result, I now have severe discoloration in my lower legs called erythema ab liposuction, which you can read about. My informed consent did not include any mention of this as a possible outcome, but it's now something I live with every day.
I am in my early 30s, slender, and growing up always hated my cankles. When I learned about this procedure, I was so hopeful, but still, I proceeded with caution. I am a physician myself. I flew down to LA from Seattle for an in-person consult. He was more interested in impressing the handsome young dermatology resident shadowing him, but he seemed optimistic I would be happy with the results. I asked for before and after photos of other young women with slender but unshapely lower legs, and after several emails and over a month, I recieved a few. None were very impressive, but at this point, I had a seed of hope and would not be deterred. I didn't tell any family or friends about this--I think I knew they would be horrified and tell me not to proceed.
I'm not going to go into the experience of the procedure itself or the aftermath. Suffice it to say that my legs have not seen the outside world since that surgery. I wear long sleeve pajama bottoms even in the summer now, because I don't even want to be forced to see my mistake. But I am every day when I ahower and get dressed.
I will never wear shorts or a summer dress again. I can never even wear cut off slacks at work. I rolled up a pair of distressed jeans to just above my ankle one day, and within minutes my father exclaimed after my "rash."
A year and a half ago I did laser treatments. This left it's own hyperpigmentation (for about a year) and led to no significant improvement.
I am a problem solver. But there is no solution to this problem but prevention.
Please, do not get liposuction of your ankles. The skin and subcutaneous fat you have is yours. It's your body. It might not be Meghan Markle, but having permanently mutilated legs, caused by your own misguided choice, by the hands of someone you should not have trusted, is so, so much worse. I wish more than anything I could go outside in shorts and show off my cankles again. Wear a dress. Lululemon capris to barre rather than leggings that go all the way to my shoes. I can't but you still can. Go. Feel the sun on your legs.
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