Lipo and gland excision both sides on 9 September. All going fine, bruising gone, the hard ridges everyone talks about are softening. Last weekend I started leaving the vest off for an hour or two in the evening because it was driving me mad, and since about Tuesday the right side has gone puffy again. Not hard like the ridges. Soft, like a water balloon under the skin, and if I press the outer edge I can feel it move to the middle. Does not really hurt.
The left side is flat. So now I have one flat side and one that looks like week one.
Is this a seroma? Do they drain it or does it go away on its own? And have I caused it by taking the vest off, because I feel like an idiot if so.
Sloshing when you press it is the giveaway. Mine was the side the drain came out of, about ten days after. They drained it in clinic with a needle, quick and not painful because the skin was still numb, and it came back once smaller and they did it again. Then nothing.
Ring them today, do not wait for your next appointment.
Not a seroma story, but the vest off thing. I did the same at four weeks and my surgeon was not impressed. Put it back on full time.
#4October 19, 2026, 9:31 am Kieran, what you describe, soft, fluid, moving when you press one edge and not especially painful, is the textbook description of a seroma rather than the firm healing tissue you have been watching soften. A seroma is a pocket of clear fluid under the skin, a large systematic review recorded seroma in about 4 in every 100 patients, and it is usually managed easily once the team know about it. The firm ridges are a different thing entirely, and I set out how to tell the lumps apart in swelling and lumps after gynaecomastia surgery.
What happens next is your surgeon's call, not ours. Small ones are sometimes watched; larger or persistent ones are commonly drained with a needle in clinic, as Ryan describes, sometimes more than once. So the answer to "does it go away on its own" is "maybe, but let them decide", and the action is a phone call this morning.
On blame, I would not beat yourself up, but FlatChestFinally is right that the vest goes back on full time until you are told otherwise. Part of what it is doing is pressing the tissue layers together while they reattach, which is exactly what stops fluid collecting. How long yours stays on is your surgeon's call, and why it matters is in the compression garment after gynaecomastia surgery.
The one thing that would change this from a phone call to an urgent one: if that side gets hot, red or more painful, or you get a fever, ring the same day and say those words.
Rang them yesterday morning, seen this afternoon. Seroma. She drew off a surprising amount with a needle, I did not feel it, and the side is flat again. Vest back on 24/7 and they want to see me in a week in case it refills.
One week check done. A small amount back, she said too little to bother draining, and it should be reabsorbed now it has stopped refilling. Both sides look about the same tonight. Lesson learned on the vest. Thanks all, especially for the push to ring rather than wait.
