Soreness and stretching?

[yet-another]

Hello Doc's

I am now 3 weeks post op with liposuction only.  I have not been stretching my front upper body at all.  I figured I would let the muscles/skin/tissues heal as much as possible.  Now, oddly enough, the parts of my upper body that are sore are the parts that weren't worked on (abdominals and sides).  They are extremely sore, especially when I stretch out a little.  It is actually a very sharp soreness.  I would almost call it very painful.

I was thinking that this could be caused be either the lack of stretching or the compression vest, or maybe a combination of the two.  Have you ever heard of this?  Should I start stretching out my upper body including my chest?

Thank you very much!

[Dr. Elliot Jacobs]

I have not heard of a problem precisely like yours.  However, many times when one has an injury, the body is thrown out of balance.  Other muscle groups then are forced to work in ways they are not used to doing.  As a result, you may end up with pains in places other than the original injury.

By three weeks after surgery, assuming all has gone well and you are healing nicely, you may consider slowly returning to exercise. (Obviously, check with your surgeon first).  If you have been in shape prior to surgery, you will be able to get back into shape fairly quickly.

Dr Jacobs