Cellulite subcision before and after: what to know

Before treatment, a clinician maps dimples while you stand and relax the muscles. Subcision uses a small instrument under the skin to separate fibrous attachments that pull the surface inward. Bruising, tenderness, swelling, and temporary unevenness can make the area look worse immediately afterward. Early photographs are therefore a poor judge of the result. As inflammation reduces, the released depression may appear less obvious, although surrounding skin texture can remain visible.

Share medicines, supplements, allergies, prior procedures, pregnancy status, and any tendency to form raised scars. Follow the clinic’s instructions about skin cleansing and medicines that may increase bruising; do not stop a prescribed medicine without advice. Afterward, keep dressings and puncture sites clean, avoid rubbing the area, and follow guidance on activity, compression, bathing, and review visits. Compare photographs taken in similar lighting, posture, and distance rather than checking the skin repeatedly.

Contact the treating clinic promptly for worsening pain, spreading redness, increasing warmth, pus, fever, marked one-sided swelling, or bleeding that does not settle with firm pressure. Seek urgent care for breathing difficulty, faintness, or rapidly developing facial or throat swelling. A small amount of bruising and soreness can be expected, but symptoms should follow the recovery advice you were given.

Which dimples are suitable for subcision? What will you use for numbing? When should I expect swelling and bruising to improve? How will you document progress, and what will happen if a depression remains?