How to massage fibrosis after liposuction or cellulite surgery

Liposuction often leads to fibrosis: how to massage it away

• Fibrosis massage after lipo / cellulite surgery

• How to self-massage after liposuction in order to get rid of fibrosis at home, in 7 simple steps

• Fibrosis post-lipo massage, Step 1: First apply a little oil on the area - Not too much, not too little

• Fibrosis massage after lipo, Step 2: Proceed with long, firm pressure strokes, up and down the area

• Fibrosis massage, Step 3: Now start kneading the hard lumps, as you would knead dough

• Post-lipo fibrosis massage, Step 4: Now massage the scar tissue with your knuckles

• Post-lipo massage, Step 5: Add more oil and massage upwards with long, medium-pressure strokes

• Fibrosis massage, Step 6: Apply some ice for 10-20 minutes, to help with inflammation

• Anti-fibrotic massage, Step 7: Apply a good cream with multiple relevant actives in high concentrations

• Important notes

• Combine with ultrasound, for faster results

• Be patient, fibrosis needs time to break down and fast results are not going to happen

• Excessively strong treatments will lead to inflammation and more fibrosis, not less

• Very frequent / daily treatments will also lead to inflammation and more fibrosis

• Have a skin tightening / cellulite treatment in London with the experts

Fibrosis massage after lipo / cellulite surgery

In a previous article we analysed everything to do with fibrosis after liposuction/cellulite surgery, including what causes it.

On that article we presented a timetable of different actions you can take and treatments you can have from Day 2 to Day 56 to prevent/breakdown fibrosis after:

• Lipo surgery: normal liposuction, vaser, laser lipo/smart lipo, body tight, abdominoplasty/tummy tuck, thigh lift etc may all leave behind a lot of fibrosis

• Cellulite surgery: cellfina, subcision, cellulaze etc may all leave behind a lot of fibrosis, which can actually look worse than cellulite itself

On this article we focus on the specifics of how to perform a safe and effective anti-fibrosis massage after lipo/cellulite surgery.

How to self-massage after liposuction in order to get rid of fibrosis at home, in 7 simple steps

Fibrosis prevention and reduction massage is quite straightforward and you can do it effectively and safely if you follow some simple advice, either as a patient or as professional.

Below is a simple yet effective, 7-step method to help you prevent / minimise / remove fibrotic hard lumps after liposuction and related surgery.

This massage can be performed from the 21st day after surgery.

(Before the 21st day you can have some professional lymphatic massage to help with swelling. Or just practise Step 5 below.)

Initially start gently and with gradually increase pressure - but always practise moderation. Excess, premature intensity will cause pain and/or inflammation, so always be conservative.

Fibrosis post-lipo massage, Step 1: First apply a little oil on the area - Not too much, not too little

For fibrosis massage, skin should neither be too slippery, nor too dry.

It should allow some “drag”, but not too much, as we want to focus on dermis, hypodermis and subcutaneous tissue:

• too much oil / too slippery skin will focus the massage too deep, i.e. muscles

• too little oil / too dry skin will focus the massage too deep, i.e. epidermis

You also want an oil which is not too dry (such as coconut oil), not too thick (such as cocoa butter) and not too thin (such as grape seed oil or soya oil) either.

Almond/apricot/olive/high oleic sunflower oils are the perfect massage oils, as they are hydrating and of the right consistency. Shea butter oil is also great.

If you don’t have any of the above three oils, it’s not a problem you can always use any oil - it’s just that the above four oils suggested have the optimum drag for a good fibrosis massage.

In all cases, what you don’t want to do is pay £20 for those ripoff 30ml bottles of facial oils that come with a dropper!

Contrary to the marketing blurb, expensive vegetable oils (e.g argan oil or anything overhyped) does not have magic properties and will not magically take away the hard lumps or the inflammation if it costs a fortune.

And no, rose hip oil, for example, does not have enough vitamin C to make a difference. And if it had, not much would penetrate the skin. This is because oils, in contrast to creams, do not penetrate anywhere below the epidermis.

If you wish, you may add 2 drops of essential oil (lemon, mint, eucalyptus etc) in 5ml of oil (that is roughly 2% - that’s more than enough).

While you perform the massage, make sure you reapply a bit of oil from time to time, to ensure a balance between slip and drag.

Fibrosis massage after lipo, Step 2: Proceed with long, firm pressure strokes, up and down the area

It doesn’t matter if these strokes are upwards or downwards.

We are not doing lymphatic drainage at this stage, we are breaking the fibrotic lumps (you will have a chance to do more upward strokes later). In fact, and contrary to the half-knowledge parroted on the internet, you DO need to massage on both directions to more efficiently break down the fibrotic lumps and the skin adhesions.

Apply differing pressure, sometimes lighter and sometimes firmer. Feel the tissue and what it needs and what it can take.

*** If the tissues are still sensitive (weeks 3-6 after surgery), be gentle. From weeks 6-8 you can apply much more pressure, but always below the pain threshold. ***

In all cases do NOT overdo it. This is a marathon, not a sprint. If you do it too lightly you will have a chance to do it stronger the day after (always leave a day inbetween).

But if you overdo it, your skin will be sore and potentially inflamed the next day, actually making the situation worse and bringing you back. Apply some ice 2-3 times a day and leave a 2-3 day gap before your next session.

Fibrosis massage, Step 3: Now start kneading the hard lumps, as you would knead dough

Again apply lighter and firmer pressure at times, checking what the tissues can take. Do that for several minutes and make sure you are just below the pain threshold.

If the tissues are still sensitive (weeks 3-6 after surgery), be gentle. From weeks 6-8 you can apply much more pressure, but always below the pain threshold.

If you overdo it, follow the advice on Step 3.

Post-lipo fibrosis massage, Step 4: Now massage the scar tissue with your knuckles

Again use varying pressure and again and massage with the knuckles in different directions for a few minutes and do not overdo it.

Post-lipo massage, Step 5: Add more oil and massage upwards with long, medium-pressure strokes

Do that for a few minutes to increase blood circulation and lymphatic drainage and thereby help bring nutrients to the area and remove excess fluid waste products.

The extra oil is to make skin more slippery and allow the hand to glide over the skin.

Fibrosis massage, Step 6: Apply some ice for 10-20 minutes, to help with inflammation

Always apply ice though a thin cloth to avoid ice burns.

Never overdo it - more is not better with icing. Just apply the ice for 10-20 minutes or remove earlier if it feels too cold / uncomfortable etc. Moderation is key with icing. You can carefully apply ice a couple of times a day.

Anti-Fibrotic massage, Step 7: Apply a good cream with multiple relevant actives in high concentrations

Good actives know for their anti-fibrotic and healing properties are centella asiatica, EGCG and curcumin, among others.

Always make sure you avoid applying the cream on any open wounds.

Important notes

Note 1: As mentioned above, this massage should be done with gradually increasing pressure, starting from day 21 after lipo. Be moderate, don’t be aggressive.

Note 2: For days 1-21 you need a lymphatic drainage massage, which can simply be Step 5 on its own, with very light pressure in the first few days after surgery and gradually firmer (but not too firm) pressure as the days go by. If you want a full-on lymphatic drainage massage, that cannot be taught in a few paragraphs and you need to go to an expert.

Combine with ultrasound, for faster results

The massage applied with your hands acts on the macroscopic levels, i.e. affects larger connective tissue structures.

Ultrasound has been used in physiotherapy to break down scar tissue / fibrosis for decades. Ultrasound provides a micromassage at the microscopic level, i.e. it affects smaller connective tissue structures.

Both massage and ultrasound are great for fibrosis reduction and you can combine them for faster results. You can do massage at home 1-3 times a week. And you can also do ultrasound at a clinic that specialises in this service, once a week.

For safety reasons, we do not recommend ultrasound treatment at home on your own: you can easily overdo it (and many people overdo it) and cause damage.

Be patient, fibrosis needs time to break down and fast results are not going to happen

In any of these two cases, don’t expect fast dramatic results. When it comes to breaking down fibrosis three elements are necessary:

• Lots and lots of patience

• Lots and lots of time

• And lots and lots of sessions

Sounds boring and slow but that’s how it is. Your body does not care if you are impatient or if you have already spent thousands of pounds on surgeons and do not want to spend hundreds of pounds on therapists.

Excessively strong treatments will lead to inflammation and more fibrosis, not less

Fibrosis does not break down faster if you do stronger massages or stronger intensity ultrasound - you will just cause inflammation, which will delay improvement, not accelerate it.

You will not be better with 3-4 sessions, even if they are very strong (very strong treatments will actually make the situation worse. It ain’t gonna happen, no matter what different doctors and therapists promise you.

You will need many, many sessions of average intensity massage and/or low-medium intensity ultrasound. Think of 12 sessions of massage, ultrasound or, ideally, both.

And if your fibrosis is really bad, like our second client mentioned above, even more sessions and time will be needed.

These are the facts. Be patient, allocate a lot of time and have lots of not-too-strong massages, either self-massages at home or professional massages and ultrasound at a clinic.

Very frequent / daily treatments will also lead to inflammation and more fibrosis

Furthermore, fibrosis will not break down faster if you have massages / ultrasound more frequently, say every day or twice a day.

You still need to allow time to recover between sessions, which is 2-7 days, depending on each case.

You will not be fibrosis-free in 4 weeks, even if you have treatment every day (especially not if you have treatment every day). Think of several weeks and - most probably - months.

Of course, there is always the option of going to one of those cowboys who will promise you fast results with 1-4 sessions of HIFU, RF microneedling, extreme intensity RF or vaser surgery. These are totally the wrong techniques and they will make the situation worse - not better.

Building more scar tissue collagen (i.e. fibrotic collagen), which HIFU, RF microneedling, extreme intensity RF and vaser are designed to do, is the exact opposite of breaking scar tissue collagen. We have seen so many clients at the clinic the past few years, having the above treatments to “break down fibrosis” only to develop more fibrosis.

Don’t be a victim, to break fibrosis down you need many, relatively soft treatments, spaced out over a period of time - not 1-4 super-strong, fibrosis-producing “miracle” treatments.

Again, these are the facts on the ground. Be patient, allocate a lot of time and have lots of massages properly spaced out, either self-massages at home or professional massages and ultrasound at a clinic.

Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment in London with the experts

At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.

This is all we study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment and their manufacturers.

As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.

Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.

Our radiofrequency/ultrasound treatments are comfortable, pain-free, downtime-free, injection-free, microneedling-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.

And our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service, with a smile.

We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.

Learn more or check prices and book an expert treatment at our London clinic (49 Marylebone High Street, W1)