Lipofilling is an injection of the patient’s own adipose tissue, cleared of foreign impurities. The procedure is carried out to increase volume or correct any aesthetic defects. The fat cells are introduced using special cannulas through small punctures.
The small size of tissue damage and the use of one’s own tissue as donor tissue can significantly reduce the rehabilitation period. The operation is considered quite easy and safe, and recovery after it is easier than after most other plastic corrections.
However, low trauma does not guarantee the absence of postoperative phenomena such as swelling and bruising. It is important to understand that these are absolutely normal consequences of the operation and will pass within the prescribed period.
How does swelling appear?
During insertion of cannulas, small areas of epithelium, connective tissue, blood vessels, lymphatic channels and others are damaged. In response to traumatic effects, the human body begins to produce substances that help restore damaged areas and produce new tissue.
Because of these substances, the permeability of the walls of blood vessels and lymphatic channels increases, and a certain amount of fluid comes out of them and enters the soft tissues. This mechanism stimulates the nutrition of damaged areas of the body and the formation of new tissues.
Thus, swelling is a natural accompaniment of any operation associated with traumatic exposure. But this is the natural mechanics of the body, which works to restore and heal injured areas.
On the face, swollen areas are less noticeable.
During the procedure
When you receive hyaluronic acid injections for the first time, you will need to sign an informed consent form (a form stating that you agree to the procedure and understand the risks involved).
Your doctor may do an ultrasound (an imaging technique that uses sound waves to produce images) to determine where to inject. The doctor will examine your joint and clean the area. In some cases, a local anesthetic (medicine that numbs an area of the body) may be given before the hyaluronic acid injection.
When injecting hyaluronic acid, you will only feel a slight tingling sensation as the needle pierces the skin and the medication is injected. After administering the medication, your doctor will remove the needle and clean the injection site. You will be given a small bandage (Band-aid®) over this.
to come back to the beginning
Can it be avoided?
After lipofilling, edema almost always forms, even if the volume of the operation is small. Their visibility is a completely different matter. In most cases, swelling at the injection site is noticeable only to the patient himself, but not to others.
Therefore, it is worth thinking not about how to avoid swelling, but about how to speed up tissue healing and, accordingly, the reduction of swelling. The healing time is greatly influenced by the patient’s attitude to the doctor’s recommendations.
Among the general recommendations, we can note abstinence from bad habits, namely giving up alcohol and nicotine - especially nicotine, which inhibits recovery processes. Moreover, it is advisable to give up bad habits some time before the operation itself - in this case, the recovery process will go faster.
What affects healing
First of all, it is necessary to remove sports and physical activity from life, especially when it comes to breast or buttock correction. It is also important to exclude thermal procedures - baths, saunas, hot baths. Heat promotes blood flow to injured areas and thereby increases the recovery period.
To recover, you also need to adjust your daily diet. During the rehabilitation period you will need to give up salt and spicy foods. Salt and hot seasonings retain fluid in the body, which increases the time it takes for swelling to resolve.
In the first days, puncture sites should be protected from water, and then protected from the sun. Solarium and beach are excluded for a month. When going out into the open air, injured areas should be protected from sunlight.
How to relieve swelling after lip augmentation with hyaluronic acid
The injection of hyaluronic acid has long been used in aesthetic medicine to add volume to the lips. This substance is also produced by the body itself. Therefore, the procedure is safe and does not cause drug rejection. The first few days after lip contouring, they swell. This is a normal reaction. In order to speed up the process of removing swelling, it is better to follow the recommendations of specialists and take care of your lips after augmentation. In addition to excessive swelling after lip contouring, bruises, balls and allergic reactions can be observed.
Causes of swelling
The consequences of lip contouring are divided into expected (that is, not dangerous) and side (undesirable).
Swelling in the first days after the procedure is an expected result, the body’s response to the introduction of hyaluronic acid. Its molecules attract and bind to water, holding it. Lips are moisturized and plump. In the first few hours after the procedure, such a reaction will be pronounced. Gradually, the swelling subsides, and the lips acquire a natural swelling.
Swelling is also a natural reaction of soft tissues to damage from a needle.
Such swelling is an expected result. They go away on their own within 2-3 days.
Swelling can also occur for other reasons. There are situations from which no one is immune. During the contouring procedure, a puncture of the wall of a large vessel is often observed. This swelling is accompanied by a hematoma. Some drugs contain hyaluronic acid and the anesthetic lidocaine. Some people have an individual intolerance to this component. An allergic reaction manifests itself in the form of excessive swelling of the lips.
Lips may swell due to the incompetence of a cosmetologist:
- Injecting too much filler into the lips.
- Infection of the soft tissues of the lips.
Before performing the procedure, the doctor must check the patient for contraindications. You should tell your doctor in detail about all your diseases, allergies and other characteristics of your body.
After collecting anamnesis, the cosmetologist calculates the required volume of the administered drug. The specialist must use sterile instruments to prevent infection of the lips, which leads to swelling and inflammation.
To reduce the likelihood of lip swelling, you need to contact only professionals!
How long does swelling last?
Normally, swelling of the lips after the injection of hyaluronic acid lasts about 2-3 days. After which it decreases within 2-4 days. This is the body's natural reaction to the drug.
If a large vessel was damaged during the procedure, it will take longer for the tissue to heal. Bruising and swelling completely disappear after 7-10 days.
In other cases, excessive volume that does not go away for more than a week signals an allergic reaction to the filler or a mistake by the cosmetologist. Such situations require immediate consultation with a doctor.
How to relieve swollen lips
Swelling is an adequate reaction of the body to mechanical intervention. If the work is done efficiently, excessive swelling goes away quickly, within 2-5 days. To speed up this process, it is recommended to follow the recommendations of a cosmetologist:
- On the first day after the procedure, you can periodically apply a cold compress (frozen food or ice wrapped in cloth, a cold spoon, etc.).
- Gentle self-massage before bed will speed up the removal of swelling.
- For several weeks after contouring, special moisturizing and nourishing creams should be applied to the lips.
- The use of oily masks. You can make them yourself at home from natural products: cream, cottage cheese, sour cream with the addition of cucumber. You can apply the mask from the 2nd day after the procedure, 2 times a week.
- Special gymnastics for the face will shorten the recovery period.
- It is best to avoid applying cosmetics to the mouth area, or to reduce its use to a minimum.
- On hot days, it is recommended to apply sunscreen on your lips before going outside.
- You cannot visit the bathhouse, swimming pool, sauna, solarium and beaches to avoid overheating of the intervention area.
Clients with frequent herpes outbreaks are advised to take a course of prophylaxis to reduce the risk of infection during the contouring procedure.
Medicines and physical therapy
Medicines and physical therapy procedures can also help remove swelling after lipofilling. Medicines include Traumeel, heparin ointment or Troxevasin. A course of antibiotics may also be prescribed to stop the infection.
From physical therapy, patients are most often recommended microcurrents, laser, magnetic or phototherapy. These procedures help resolve swelling and speed up healing.
Microcurrent therapy accelerates resorption.
It is important to remember that you absolutely cannot prescribe medications and procedures for yourself! All medical treatments and manipulations must be suggested by or agreed upon by a physician. Self-medication can only harm the patient. Before attending physical therapy or using medication, you should always consult with your surgeon.
How quickly will the swelling go down?
Some factors that determine the speed of recovery do not depend on the will of the patient. These are, for example, age or genetic characteristics. The older the patient, the longer it will take for the swelling to subside. Patients with thin skin or low blood circulation also take a little longer to recover.
Other factors, on the contrary, directly depend on the patient. As an example, if an infection gets into a wound, tissue healing will take a very long time and be difficult. To prevent infection, it is necessary to treat punctures daily with an antiseptic.
The recovery time usually depends on the place that was corrected. Swollen areas on the face return to normal faster than on the chest or buttocks. External swelling usually goes away within a period of two weeks to a month. The internal one may persist for some time.
When should you visit a doctor?
Let us remind you once again that tissue swelling at the surgical site is a completely normal phenomenon and should not cause concern. But in some cases it is worth visiting your surgeon as soon as possible:
- the temperature stays above 38°C for several days,
- swelling increases greatly in size,
- severe and growing pain at the surgical site over time,
- suppuration at the suture sites.
Any unusual situations that cause concern require an immediate visit to a doctor. Do not worry if there is slight pain, loss, or, on the contrary, increased sensitivity in the operated area. Like swelling, this is normal and will go away over time.
In other situations, you should not postpone a visit to the surgeon. In emergency cases, it is better to call an ambulance. Fortunately, complications after lipofilling are not that common. Most patients undergo surgery without any complications or problems.
Reasons why the cheek swells after tooth extraction
After tooth extraction, an inflammatory process occurs in the soft tissues of the oral cavity - this is the main cause of edema and swelling. If the operation is performed correctly and the patient has followed all the dentist’s recommendations, the non-infectious inflammation will go away on its own, without antibiotics or complications, and along with it, pain and swelling will go away.
The duration of swelling varies depending on the surgical technique, which tooth was removed, the condition of the oral cavity, and finally, the physical condition of the patient and his immune system. On average, swelling lasts 3-4 days, but can last for 7 days. If after a week the swelling has not subsided, this is a sign of the development of complications and a reason to consult a specialist.
Swelling appears a few hours after surgery (after the anesthesia wears off). At the same time, the patient may feel aching pain, and ichor is released from the wound. A slight increase in temperature is allowed. All these symptoms are considered natural and do not pose any danger. And to relieve pain, you can take painkillers analgesics.
Maximum swelling is recorded on days 3-4, from this moment it begins to decrease and by the seventh day it completely disappears. But the cheek can swell immediately after depulpation; this happens if the patient had gumboil and the tumor developed even before the operation.
