Tanning After SmartLipo: What You Need To Know

I get a lot of my ideas for my blogging from Realself.com, since people often raise questions that I would not have thought of.

Several people have asked about tanning after SmartLipo. It’s not that simple though – we have to discuss the difference between regular tanning and spray tanning. Spray tanning after about 3 days should not be a problem. The very small incisions are sutured and then covered with a steristrip. It is very unlikely that after 3 days the spray tan would enter the small incisions and cause a problem.

But what about suntanning after SmartLipo? You do need to be careful for a few reasons.

1. First, it is very common for skin to me numb in the treated areas. This means you can get a sunburn and not feel it.
2. Also — and this is very important — the circulation to the skin can be somewhat decreased (this will vary from person to person and will depend on how aggressive the SmartLipo was and how superficial it was done). It should not be decreased very much since the small blood vessels are largely spared and definitely the larger vessels are spared. However, there can be some decrease, which theoretically could increase the risk of a sunburn. There are no studies on this, so it is largely opinion only.

I would suggest a good sunblock (good advice for all the time) after a day or two if you plan to be out in the sun. However, I would avoid laying out in the sun to sunbathe for hours, until about 10 days following your SmartLipo procedure. Even then, you should reapply your sunblock frequently and go indoors to check your skin to see how you are doing. I am not as fanatical as many dermatologists about being out in the sun. I think a light tan is great but clearly you don’t want to be baking your skin in the sun and you always want to protect your face if you want to minimize hyperpigmentation. It’s important to not that being tanned will also prevent you from getting our PicoSure facial, but you could get a Hydrafacial if desired.

Want to know more about SmartLipo? Please call my office at 703-406-2444 to schedule a complimentary, private consultation with me.