Had Cellulaze 5/23/12 - Monclair, NJ

I had cellulaze on May 23rd on the back, front, insides and outsides of my thighs (yes, it was a lot and took a long time)! As most women have said on here, the numbing was the worst part. First the needle, then the lidocaine solution they put under the skin - yikes! I had to grit my teeth and dream of smooth thighs to help get me through it. Otherwise, the actual laser was nothing - a few times I’d feel the heat of it (maybe in a corner of a section that wasn’t fully numbed?), but that was it. I was given 2 percoset and 2 valium pills before the surgery which helped a lot. The first 48 hours I had a lot of leakage and had to keep the foam pads on underneath the garment. Once I got to take them off and take a shower, I saw how bruised and swollen I was - it was pretty bad! I know many women say they see results right away, but there was just no chance I could see anything through all that bruising and swelling. After 2 weeks, I could still see some cellulite through what was left of the bruising and swelling, but I really think we have to give our bodies time to heal and for the “skin to come up” as my doctor said. I’ve seen pictures online of a patient at different points in their progress up to one year, and it definitely was still there right away, but faded over the course of the year. I’m trying very hard to be patient!

I feel like I have a bit of an advantage (if you could really call it that!) in that I’ve been through a similar recovery before. Just over a year ago I had lipo on my saddlebags, inner thighs, and my inner and outer knees. It took 4 weeks for the bruising to fully go away back then, and even after 5 weeks, the areas were still a bit tender to touch and numb. The numbness took a few months to go away (I can’t remember exactly how long right now, but I know it was at least 2-3 months). After that, i would forget that I even had the surgery except when I was in a dressing room trying on something that would never have looked good before my surgery, but actually looked great! I also know the garment becomes your best friend and it seems like you will never be able to go without it (feels like your skin/detached fat is going to fly off without it!). What I did the first time around is wear it non-stop for the first 4 weeks (I had two and would alternate them so I could wear a clean one every day), then I went to a stage 2 garment for the next 2 weeks, then I’d wear the garment only at night for another few weeks. After that, I was fine without it, and after a few months was running again without a problem (at first running was weird because it felt like your skin was going to fall off when you’d start, but that went away thank god!). It seems like a long, slow recovery, but in hindsight isn’t that long or that bad. This recovery feels the same - I know they say online that bruising subsides within a week or two and they basically make it sound like this is a walk in the park recovery-wise, but that is flat out wrong! They put a laser under my skin, cut some bands that were holding my skin to my body, melted some fat, and then completely burned the underside of my skin! Doesn’t sound minor to me, and judging from this recovery, it’s not! I’ve iced my skin with ice packs wrapped in a towel a few times just because it felt like I had a bad sunburn sometimes. The icing definitely helped me feel better, at least temporarily.

I’ve been eating right (lots of vegetables!) to give my body what it needs to put itself back together, taking 1000 mg of vitamin C every day, and taking the arnica tablets. I’ve also been using the arnica gel on my skin after I shower, then when that dries, I use organic coconut oil on my skin to keep it from getting dried out. I’ve been feeling better and better most days, but some days it just seems like I’m backsliding a bit and it’s worse! I’m still sore to the touch, numb, bruised (although now it has just a few dark bruised spots and the rest is a “mottled” type of bruising) and a little swollen. I know in a few short months this will all be over and I will be noticing a better and better result. If you went to a good plastic surgeon (which I did), I think it’s inevitable to see improvement. Will I look like the airbrushed Victoria’s Secret models? Probably not :) But if I can wear shorts without being super self conscious I will be happy! I’ll keep you all updated!