Recovery

The vast majority of patients go home on the day of their surgery. You will need a responsible adult to be with you for the first 24 hours. The residual effects of the local anaesthetic are still in effect when the patient goes home and, as such, surgical discomfort is usually easily controlled. As the local anaesthetic wears off, the use of oral pain-relieving medications that Mr Masters will prescribe for you becomes necessary. Patients have a varying response to this discomfort. Some patients literally take no additional pain relief, others find themselves in considerable discomfort for a number of days, requiring strong oral pain relief. There is no way to predict how a certain individual will respond to the post-operative discomfort.

Not infrequently, the small incision wounds will ooze fluid for at least 24 hours. Although some patients find this alarming as it can frequently be bloodstained, it is completely normal following this kind of procedure.

Usually there are areas of altered skin sensation wherever liposuction has been performed. Full return of sensation is the norm, however this may take a number of weeks to months. When the nipple areola complex has needed to be addressed surgically there will be some initial decrease in sensation. Usually this sensation returns back to an essentially normal level, this may however take several months.

During the procedure the cannula tip often bumps into the underlying muscle layer. This causes some bruising of the muscle, which is reflected in muscular discomfort for a number of days after the procedure.

Most patients are able to return to gentle cardiovascular exercise by Day 3. Higher impact exercise (e.g. aerobics classes, running, etc) should not be resumed until at least 3 weeks after the procedure. Your body needs this time to help reform the fibrous tissue that joins your skin firmly to the deeper layers. Swimming is an excellent post-operative exercise; however, it should not be commenced until the wounds have absolutely healed (approximately 12 days).