After liposuction, a BBL or a tummy tuck, your surgeon will almost always ask for two things: wear the compression garment and get lymphatic drainage. Many clients ask whether one replaces the other. It does not: they do different jobs and need each other.
What the garment does
The compression garment applies steady pressure to the operated area. That pressure helps the skin adhere to its new shape, limits the space where fluid can build up and gives support in the first days, when everything is sensitive.
What drainage does
Manual lymphatic drainage moves the fluid that has already built up. With very gentle strokes in the direction lymph flows, it helps the body clear it. And by keeping tissues soft while they heal, it helps prevent fibrosis.
Put simply: the garment stops more fluid from building up; drainage helps clear what is already there.
Before and after each session
- Come wearing your garment, in comfortable clothes you can put back on easily.
- During the session we take it off only as long as needed, carefully.
- Afterwards, put it back on right away: that is when the tissue is most receptive.
- If the garment causes sores, deep marks or very uneven pressure, tell your surgeon.
How long do I wear it?
Your surgeon decides. It changes with the surgery and with how you recover. We never change that instruction: we follow it and adapt the sessions to it.
Common mistakes
- Taking the garment off early because “the swelling is gone”.
- Using a garment in another size or stage without asking.
- Thinking drainage makes up for not wearing the garment, or the other way round.
- Giving yourself strong massages over the operated area.
If you are in the middle of recovery, you may also like our guide on when to start drainage after lipo or a BBL.
Part of our guide Post-surgery recovery →
The information on this site is general guidance and does not replace your doctor’s assessment.
