The healing process after Vaser lipo or Micro lipo

The healing process can take varying amounts of time. As each person has their own genetic make-up, lifestyle, diet and exercise routine the recovery pathway in each case is different.

Hence it is difficult to give concise time frames. On the whole though it would take 5-6 months. Even after that the last 10-15% of healing is not visualised externally.  This all takes place under the skin and is microscopic. Occasionally one may have certain sensations such as itchiness, pulling sensation, electric shock type sensation, hypersensitivity or even mild lumps that appear and disappear.

Every person is different and that is normal.

If you have any concerns it is best to see your treating doctor.

Exercise after VASER lipo and Microlipo

After your surgical procedure you will need to let your body rest and recover.  In addition your nutrition will need to be balanced to help with the healing process.
Most patients who are active prior to the procedure get really itchy feet in the first week or two after the procedure as they feel lethargic and get the unfit feeling.

Stretching is very important every single day.  You want to get your body out of its comfort zone and break up the scar tissue.  Try touch your toes, flex to the right and the left and try and touch your knees.  If you feel any "knots" massage them with firm pressure.  These may come and go.  The more you stretch and massage the quicker the lumps and knots will disappear.  Remember that you will also feel numerous types of sensation - itchiness, hypersensitivity, numbness - all these are normal and indicate that the healing process is progressing.

Exercises you can start doing immediately after the procedure are hill walking and treadmill low impact, high incline walking.  You will prefer not to do any impact work such as running or jogging.  You can also go swimming after all the incision points have healed - generally a week after the procedure.

Obviously areas that have not been treated can be exercised with caution and if it feels comfortable then continue and build up the levels.  Your body will remind you what can what cant, or should not be done.
If any doubt just speak to your Doc.

I find it really helpful wearing a heart rate monitor as this can give you an idea of how many calories you are burning.  There are various types on the market.  Best to get one that determines the calories from the heart rate.  Ideally you want to get to heart rate ranges of 160bpm.  If you can sustain this for 40 seconds and then have a 10s rest and repeat the process about 4 times, would be good.  Your fitness levels will soon improve.

After 4 weeks you should be able to get back into a fairly normal routine.  Build it up slowly.   Don't jump straight into "Insanity".  Use a week to get back up to speed.

Nutrition after VASER or Microlipo

After having VASER or Microlipo its important to give your body enough energy and strength to fast-track the healing process.  It also helps in strengthening your immune system to fight any infection.

Obviously a well balanced diet is important - this will include vitamins, minerals, fibre, protein, carbohydrates and fat - Yes FAT.
Minerals - Zinc and Iron are important in the healing process and also forming new red blood cells as you will most likely lose a bit of blood. Foods rich in these are red meat, green leavy veg, broccoli and seafood.
Vitamins can be gained from veg or fruit as a daily intake.  Some may be taking vitamin supps which is also ok.


Fibre - in many cases after surgery you will be taking pain relief tabs which can cause constipation.  Drink plenty of fluid - not tea and coffee as this will dehydrate you even more.
Drink at least 1.5 litres of water.  You may be leaking from incision wounds and this needs to be replenished.  Make sure your urine is always very light in colour and that will give you a good idea of your hydration.


Protein - For your body to heal it requires lots of protein, amino acids etc. to manufacture the building blocks of regenerative tissue and scar tissue.  Foods rich in protein for example are chicken, tuna, seafood, nuts, eggs, tofu and certain dairy products.  In addition protein shakes can also be used.

Fats - from nuts, avocado, coconut and olive oil are the best and are required for absorption of certain vitamins and foods.  They also act as a supply of energy.


Carbs - Lots of energy is required during the recovery phase. Carbs in the form of veg, fruit, whole grain (NOT whole wheat) should be taken.  Avoid white bread, pasta, rice and potatoes.  If you crave potatoes then try sweet potato.

As you are most likely not in full exercise routine its best to limit your white refined carbs such as white sugar, fizzy drinks, sweets, chocolate etc.  These will only stimulate your insulin levels and result in fat storage rather than breakdown.

Central fat is worse than being fat all over

Scientists have now determined that central or visceral fat is more unhealthy than being fat all over.  See this article
Although this is nothing new there is a little more scientific evidence on the topic now.  We have always known that central fat is more harmful, but there has never been much evidence.  Clever Docs at the Mayo Clinic have now found out that the risk of early death is far higher when having a "belly" than being generally obese.  Now, this does not mean that its ok to be obese.  Central obesity is often associated with metabolic disease or syndromes and thus carries with it relatively more risk of early death.
It shows thus that it is important where you carry your fat.  Visceral is also rather difficult to target.  It only responds to exercise and dietary change.  Lipo is not an option here......

Expectations after Lipo

The challenge for any medical practitioner in the aesthetics industry is to make an accurate assessment with regards to the suitability of a patient.  After thorough medical history taking and short psychological profiling the mainstay of suitability is not only physical examination, but also what the expectations are.
Every patient needs to be seen as a new canvass and no two patients can be compared. The variables of any patient pathway is different to the next patients'.
The human body is complex structure and thus we can broadly describe a recovery processes, however, each individual will have his/her unique recovery path.  Thus we can only give guidelines and estimate time scales, or give broad time frame ranges.
Expectations need to be very realistic.  We as Doctors are not magicians and are governed and restricted by anatomical features and physiological processes that we have no hold over.
Yes we can improve features, yes we can subtly change shapes or alter contours - there are however limitations.

If you are striving for perfection then having aesthetic/cosmetic surgery or treatments is not the right solution.  You need to have very realistic expectations.
If anyone promises you perfection or picture perfect results you should also be alarmed.

Realistic results will include slight imperfections and slight asymmetries.
The human body is not a perfect symmetrical structure and anything the resembles that is most likely photoshopped or fake.......

Fat Freezing, 3D lipo, Strawberry lipo......VASER lipo

I often see patients that have tried numerous other promising techniques to reduce some stubborn areas of fat before they end up in my consulting rooms. These range from fat freezing, infra-red, ultrasound, external laser therapy etc. Don't get me wrong - these can have a purpose in treating certain small pockets. However, in the majority of cases the areas are substantial and often require some form of contouring too. Remember that shrinking the respective areas is not always enough and that sometime one needs to create some shape too. In this instance the external devices and techniques are not really useful. The only method that really is suitable is some form of aspiration or suction. Most of the external devices rely on the immune system to remove the injured or damaged tissue and this subsequently can take 6-12 months before one sees any changes. This often results in demotivation and patients will often fall into their same routine lifestyle with no change in diet and exercise routine. Occasionally patients will deny having had any intervention such as external treatments. They may also have forgotten as it was long ago or they didn't really see it as a treatment as it was not successful. I will notice this in the texture of the tissue when I commence my VASER treatment as the fat layer is very fibrous and scarred. This can make the VASER treatment more technical and also the results a little less predictable. Essentially, if you are considering external treatments for larger areas, then understand that these will cause significant scar-tissue under the skin (not visible) and make any subsequent treatments a little less successful. The risk of irregularities and dimples is also more likely. Best research all the treatments and go for consultations for all the treatments so you are well informed....