Seroma!?

[Mosiak]

17 days post op of DI, and today my chest started feeling watery, at least I only noticed it today. I had a post op appointment this morning but they didn't make any comment so I think this developed today.

I'm not in any pain what so ever, but my chest is literally ripply with fluids. My next appointment is exactly a week from now but I'm thinking maybe I gotta stop by the hospital tomorrow and have this looked at and maybe drained..

I had the original drains in for a week and by the time they were removed they were producing 15ml of fluids in 24hours so they certainly stayed in for sufficient amount of time.

I'll post a short video link of my fluid filled chest,

excuse the gross nipple,



Anyone have any experience with such a bouncy chest?

[Kylo]

I read somewhere the experience of an FTM who did have extra drainage post-drain removal and had to go get the extra removed but there were no complications other than that. I'm guessing it's relatively rare since I haven't seen a lot of this talked about, but I did wonder how my own tissues will react post drain removal and I remember that story because it's one of the first things I thought could possibly happen, and what's supposed to be done about it.   

That does look like a lot of fluid. If there's even more tomorrow I imagine it risks stretching your scars and other issues. I'd have it looked at if it doesn't seem to reduce in the next few days.

[Miss Clara]

As someone who experienced a stubborn seroma, I advise you to have that fluid drained ASAP.  Then, wear a compression bandage to prevent new fluid from leaking into the space between your skin and the underlying tissues.  If a seroma is not treated it's likely in time to be encapsulated and form permanent scar tissue.  I had my seroma drained a dozen times before it disappeared altogether.

[Mosiak]

I went to the hospital this morning, I was able to see an on-call surgeon in the surgical wing.
This was indeed seroma, quite a lot of it. 50ml on the left and 110ml on the right. I do have to compress none stop until the seroma stops appearing so I went ahead and bought a proper compression top to replace that horribly uncomfortable thing the hospital provided.
I suspect I'll have to make more trips before this stops sucky but hopefully this will end quickly enough

[CursedFireDean]

I have had problems with a seroma, I've had to see my surgeon several times about it but it's not too bad for me, it'll eventually be sorted and it isn't too problematic in the meantime. I've had this seroma keep forming despite compression somehow. If it persists beyond new years my surgeon will consider reopening a bit on that side and putting a drain in again, but for now we've been doing repeated draining and compression. It's almost gone at this point, and I haven't personally seen a case of a seroma as long as I've had this, but I haven't seen much about seromas in the first place. It's gotten to such a small size that it's a minor aesthetic problem, but it doesn't cause any problems or look too strange, and still shrinking slowly but surely.

I haven't heard much from other trans guys about seromas, but from googling it sounds like it isn't unusual for procedures that include liposuction. It's pretty minor as far as complications go.

[Mosiak]

I see from your banner thing that you're 4 months post op and you still have seroma, a little bit of it at least. I really hope I wont have to deal with it that long, but as you say, its not really a big deal just annoying.
I did indeed have lipo with it so yea the empty space for fluid is a lot greater than for someone that did not have lipo.

I'm regularly checking my chest for bounciness, so far today its minimal, there are no ripples but I do still feel there's some fluids in there. I did not go in to get it drained today. I'm hoping it'll stay low enough for my body to absorb on its own, but I will go in if it begins to become as severe like in my video.

Are you still compressing now that you're 4 months in?

[CursedFireDean]

I see from your banner thing that you're 4 months post op and you still have seroma, a little bit of it at least. I really hope I wont have to deal with it that long, but as you say, its not really a big deal just annoying.
I did indeed have lipo with it so yea the empty space for fluid is a lot greater than for someone that did not have lipo.

I'm regularly checking my chest for bounciness, so far today its minimal, there are no ripples but I do still feel there's some fluids in there. I did not go in to get it drained today. I'm hoping it'll stay low enough for my body to absorb on its own, but I will go in if it begins to become as severe like in my video.

Are you still compressing now that you're 4 months in?

Oh yeah, feel free to disregard how long I've been post-op. I did get surgery 4 months ago, but I was unable to see my surgeon for about 9 weeks because of my school schedule. I compressed about a week after my last visit to her, and then for that whole stretch didn't do much compression, just massage. It did actually stop growing within that time at a size that I wasn't super bothered by, so she gave me the ok to wait until my quarter ended to see her. I saw her again a week ago, which is when she drained it again and confirmed that it was still a seroma, even though it isn't quite as sloshy as before. I've been compressing since it was last drained, and I can tell it'll need another drain but it's nearly done.

Most people probably don't deal with them this long, mine's primarily just because I couldn't see my surgeon for a while to get it drained and I just kept in contact with her until I could see her.

[November Fox]

You should contact your surgeon right away if you think you have a lot of internal fluid build up. If too much fluid accumulates it can be dangerous, from what my surgeon told me. I had this too and had a second operation on the same say to get rid of the fluid.

I'm not saying this just for you, a lot of guys wait because they think it isn't severe. Always contact your surgeon and email them a photo.