What Explains Nerve Damage After Liposuction?

Nerve damage is inevitable during liposuction. But that doesn't mean that something has gone wrong during surgery. Any time an incision is made, nerve damage will happen.

A quick example of this is scars. If you have scar tissue, when you touch it, you'll feel less sensation compared to your normal skin. This is a minor nerve injury and is nothing to worry about. 

Most nerve damage is temporary. Your surgeon will monitor any loss of function until it returns in the case of more severe side effects. Such an occurrence is quite rare and almost always temporary. 

Can Nerve Damage Be Fixed?

Most nerve damage is recovered without treatment within six months to a year. In some cases, it can take up to three years. How quickly your nerves recover depends on that type of injury. 

Sensory nerves are less predictable. Recovering a sense of touch can range between months or years after injury. In severe cases, surgery may be required to return sensation to damaged nerves after botched liposuction.

Signs of Nerve Damage

To properly treat nerve damage, it is vital to catch symptoms early, or success rates in curing will decrease. Therefore, you must know what to look for:

• Numbness and tingling sensations

• Difficulty moving body parts

• Intense headaches that only last a few minutes

• Shooting pain

• Dulled senses and slower reaction time

Treating Nerve Damage

When nerve damage occurs after liposuction, an accurate diagnosis of the cause of injury is most important. This helps in choosing the best treatment and strategies for nerve regeneration.

1. Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation: It can improve the range of motion limited by nerve pain. Rehabilitation methods such as ultrasound therapy and electrical stimulation can reduce pain signals as well.

2. Direct Nerve Repair: Surgeons repair cut nerves with sutures finer than human hair, restoring functionality.

3. Nerve Grafting: If a piece of nerve is missing, nerves from the forearm or leg can be transferred to the affected area to restore functionality.

4. Nerve Burying: If an injured nerve is causing painful symptoms, a surgeon can bury it deep into the muscle so it does not produce further pain.

5. Nerve Wrapping:  Injured nerves can be wrapped with collagen to reduce sensitivity. 

AirSculpt® Liposuction Correction in Raleigh

While AirSculpt® does not provide nerve repair treatments, we can correct past mistakes caused by improperly performed liposuction procedures.

The AirSculpt® Liposuction Correction procedure is designed to smooth out asymmetries and lumps produced by a  botched liposuction procedure . 

Our specialized fat grafting technique can fix dents or irregularities and even buff out scar tissue to create a smoother-looking surface.

At our Raleigh body sculpting office, we are determined to provide our patients with the body that will give them confidence. There's no reason you opted to get surgery, and the results came out to be unsatisfactory. Our body sculpting experts can accurately fix irregularities from a prior liposuction. 

If you are not in the Raleigh area, find the body sculpting center nearest you to schedule a complimentary consultation.