The most difficult part of liposuction is actually deciding to go ahead with the treatment. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take care during your recovery though.

Immediately After
Once the surgical area has been properly dressed and drains have been placed you will be given specific instructions regarding post-operative care. Your physician will explain how to care for the surgical site, important changes to watch for (of both the treatment area and your general health) and will prescribe and direct you in taking oral or topical medications that ward off infection and speed up the healing process.

Your surgeon will cover the treatment area with elastic bandages or a compression garment. These are applied in order to both control swelling and to compress the skin to the newly created body contours. In most cases you will also have small temporary drains inserted below the skin. These drains will facilitate the removal of excess fluids  that accumulate following a liposuction treatment.

Your surgeon will schedule you for a series of follow-up appointments in order to check your liposuction results and the surgical site’s healing process. In some cases it may be recommended that you undergo additional procedures to remove excess skin, although this is usually not necessary. This is more common when a patient has removed larger amounts of fat (typically amounts in excess of five litres) from the treatment site.

Important Questions To Ask About Your Recovery
Before you go home to begin your recovery you’ll want to make sure to ask certain questions regarding the recuperation period. It’s a good idea to have these written down (or to address as many as possible in your pre-operative consultation). You should ask about the medications you’ve been prescribed (and how to properly take or apply it), how to handle your dressings and/or bandages, when they will be removed and where, when stitches are to be removed (if they are non-soluble sutures), when it will be safe to resume normal activities and exercise and when to return for follow-up care.

Recovering at Home
Once you’ve returned home you should still be careful to watch for changes in the surgical site and your health. Serious complications like chest pains, shortness of breath or unusual heart beats should be immediately reported to an ambulance and examined by a medical professional.

Since liposuction surgery is a routine procedure, complications are rare — but they are still a possibility that you must be prepared for. Ask as many questions as possible during your consultation and following the treatment and be sure to seek immediate medical attention if you’re concerned about any bodily changes during recovery.