Thigh Lift - Massive Swelling

Hi - I had my thigh lift 12 days ago and my thighs are still massively swollen.  One of them is much bigger than the other and I have a huge big black /purple bruise and hard lump on that one on the inside of my thigh and along my incision line.  Ive had one session of lymphatic massage and am keeping my legs elevated and wearing compression 24/7 - but nothing much seems to be happening to make this feel better.

If you had a thigh lift when did you start seeing the swelling go down? - any hints/tips - all this swelling is very uncomfortable.

Many thanks
Debbie

Lots of water, no sodium, feet elevated, compression.  Do keep walking around some tho!  I really didn't swell much, never wore compression after the ace bandages came off on day 11.  The compression garment for some reason seemed to make my incisions hurt worse, so I didn't wear it & my doctor didn't recommend it.  Anytime I'm up & around alot tho even now I'll swell, especially at the end of the day but not too bad.  I just come home from work & make sure I rest & get my feet up!

It will get better, hang in there!

I had a hard lump on the inside down by the incision line around my knee and was very tender. I asked my surgeon about it and he said it could possibly be a lump of fat that broke free during surgery and eventually it would dissolve. He was right it did go away but was annoying while it lasted. As for the swelling, mine lasted a long time and one leg was much worse than the other. I'd say the swelling went on for about 3 months before it finally went down. But then after that at the end of the day I could see my lower legs (calfs/ankles) would swell up to 6+  months out. Nothing horrible or painful but I could tell when I looked at them and more so w/ the left leg that was always worse than the right.

The swelling started reducing after about 4 weeks, but I still needed compression from the toes up past the waist for about 10 weeks.

Yes, the swelling and issues with the thighs were MUCH worse than with everything else put together!

Thanks everyone, I knew the thighs were going to be the worse surgery to recover from.

I'm seeing my surgeon on Sunday for a follow up appt so will get him to check it out. I think the lump is possibly deep bruising - the inner thigh is black and blue from my groin down to about four inches above my knee, with the lump inside that area - about 6 inches by 4 - I'm guessing it's all related to the bruising - it's uncomfortable more than painful - but I sure wi**** would go away - maybe I'm being too impatient !

Thanks to everyone for their responses to my question.

I saw my surgeon yesterday and he diagnosed a hematoma which is basically a collection of old blood and stuff in a pocket around the incision - which he treated yesterday - I wish I could say he drained it quickly and easily with a syringe - but it was a bit more complicated than that.  More info on my blog link below if you are interested (plus a pic)

WARNING : it's a bit graphic so don't read if you are squeamish.


www.obesityhelp.com/member/zzroged/blog/2011/06/26/2-week-follow-up-thigh---arm-lift---hematoma--/