Liposuction Recovery: About Exercise

Thursday, July 15th, 2021

Liposuction can be an immensely satisfying procedure. It achieves noticeable results right away, even amidst common side effects like bruising and swelling. The improvements that come from this minimally-invasive procedure can last many years, if not indefinitely, when you continue with a healthy diet and regular exercise. Most people who seek liposuction recognize that this procedure is not performed to reduce weight but to improve the body’s contours by eliminating localized areas fat. With this awareness, patients often come to their procedure already having good habits in place. This is beneficial, but it may also create a bit of anxiety during recovery. Here, we discuss what you can expect in terms of resuming your exercise program should you choose to have liposuction.

What to Do After Liposuction and When

Exercise is an integral part of staying healthy overall. It is also necessary to maintain weight and also sustain the beautiful contours achieved through liposuction. This procedure somewhat busts the myth that you can’t spot reduce fat. With diet and exercise alone, that’s true. But liposuction is built just for spot reduction. After this procedure, the best thing you can do is eat well and exercise several times a week to maintain weight. How you do that is up to your preferences, fortunately. If you love to dance, do that. If yoga is your thing, do that. Also, though, it is beneficial to engage in resistance training that targets all of the muscles in the body. 

Toned muscles burn more fat than lax muscles. Toned muscles also help give the body that extra edge in terms of contouring. While focusing on muscle tone in the area where liposuction has been performed is not a guarantee that the body will never change, it is advantageous for keeping excess fat accumulation to a minimum in the area that had previously been problematic. 

There are only 3 reasons for not exercising immediately after liposuction. One is that it can increase bruising if done within 2-3 days since increased venous or arterial blood pressure can pop clots on injured vessels during that time. Another is that you may be sore for a few days. The other is relative to the procedure. Since liposuction causes a significant injury wherever done, your body will be using extra energy to heal the area. The amount of extra energy used depends on the amount of liposuction done.  Usually, patients can start to exercise again 2 to 3 days after liposuction ads long as they are not too sore and have enough energy to do so. The more liposuction done the slower you should start and progressing as your energy level allows.

Experience the benefits of liposuction. Contact us at (828) 526-3783 to schedule a consultation at our Highlands, NC office.