Mr. Onur Gilleard
Qualifications & Experience
Mr Onur Gilleard is a distinguished consultant plastic surgeon on the GMC specialist register. He previously held an NHS consultant post at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, specialising in skin cancer and microsurgical reconstruction. In 2021, Mr Gilleard transitioned from the NHS to dedicate himself fully to private practice, allowing him to focus exclusively on providing personalised, high-quality care to his patients. He is recognised as an expert in laser treatments, having conducted research and developed advanced treatment protocols using cutting-edge laser technology to optimise both clinical outcomes and cosmetic results.
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Recovery from lipoma removal happens on three separate clocks, and confusing them is why people think something has gone wrong. The wound is sealed in about two weeks. Normal activity resumes over two to six weeks depending on the site. The scar takes twelve to eighteen months to finish maturing. You are back to your life long before the scar looks like its final self.
Three Clocks, Not One
| Clock | Runs for | What it governs |
|---|---|---|
| Wound closure | 10—14 days | Sutures out, showering normally, the wound sealed against water and bacteria |
| Return to load | 2—6 weeks | Gym, lifting, sport, physical work — governed by wound tension, not by how you feel |
| Scar maturation | 12—18 months | Redness fading, firmness softening, the ridge flattening |
The mistake is judging the result on the third clock while still living on the first. A scar assessed at six weeks is being assessed at its worst point.
Week by Week
- Days 1–2
- Dressing stays dry and intact. Soreness is at its peak and swelling is building. Bruising often appears away from the wound, tracking downwards with gravity — a lipoma removed from the shoulder can bruise the upper arm. Desk work is usually possible from the following day.
- Days 3–7
- The turn. Pain becomes intermittent, swelling starts to settle. This is the window in which infection would declare itself if it were going to, so a wound that stops improving in this period is worth a call rather than a wait.
- Days 7–14
- Sutures are removed, typically at 7 to 14 days depending on the site — earlier where the skin is thin and healing is fast, later where the wound is under tension. Once the wound is sealed you can shower and pat dry normally.
- Weeks 2–6
- Gradual return to loaded activity. A firm ridge develops under the scar and the area around it may be numb. Both are expected: the ridge is healing tissue, the numbness is divided sensory nerves.
- Weeks 6–12
- The scar is at its most conspicuous — red, raised and firm. It is also the point at which most people worry about it. This is the phase silicone gel or tape is for.
- Months 3–18
- Remodelling. Redness fades, the ridge flattens, the numb patch shrinks. Most of the improvement happens in the first six months, but the process genuinely continues past a year.
When You Can Do Things Again
| Activity | Usually | What governs it |
|---|---|---|
| Desk work | Next day | Comfort only |
| Driving | When you can perform an emergency stop and a full head check without hesitating | Control of the vehicle, not the calendar. Tell your insurer if in doubt. |
| Showering | After the dressing period, once the wound is sealed | Wound integrity |
| Baths, swimming, sauna | After sutures are out and the wound has fully sealed | Soaking softens a healing wound and carries infection risk |
| Walking and light movement | Immediately | Actively helpful — reduces stiffness and swelling |
| Gym, lifting, stretching | 2 weeks minimum; longer after a large or deep excision | Wound tension — and this is the biggest single influence on the final scar |
| Contact sport | 4–6 weeks | Risk of a direct blow to a healing wound |
| Physical or manual work | Depends entirely on the site | Whether the job loads the wound |
The two-week rule is the one people break, and it is the one that shows. Wounds on the back, shoulder and chest are under constant tension from ordinary movement, spread the most, and are exactly the sites where early gym work widens a scar that would otherwise have been fine.
Sutures: the Actual Timetable
“Seven to fourteen days” is the general surgical range. In this practice it is more specific than that, and it depends entirely on where the lipoma was:
| Site | Sutures out |
|---|---|
| Face | 5–7 days |
| Scalp | 7–10 days |
| Neck | 7–10 days |
| Trunk and back | 10–14 days |
| Upper limb | 10–14 days |
| Lower limb | 12–14 days |
Where absorbable subcuticular sutures are used, there is nothing to remove except the external stitch, if one was placed at all.
Back to Normal, Stage by Stage
- Walking — immediately
- Light daily activities — 24 to 48 hours
- Gym, heavy lifting, strenuous stretching — 2 weeks for most small lipomas
- 3 to 4 weeks for larger excisions, or any wound closed under tension
“The first two weeks are when the wound is at its weakest. Avoiding heavy lifting and excessive stretching during that period gives the wound the best chance to heal well and not open up.”
The advice is broadly the same as after a mole excision, with one difference: larger lipomas often need a little longer, because of the dead space left behind once the lump is out.
What Makes Recovery Longer
- Size. A larger lipoma leaves a larger cavity, and the cavity takes longer to settle than the skin does.
- Depth. A lipoma lying under or within muscle involves tissue that moves constantly. Recovery is longer and achier than for one sitting in the fat just below the skin.
- Site. Back, shoulder, chest and neck are slower and more uncomfortable than forearm or thigh.
- Smoking. Reduces the blood supply the wound depends on, raising the risk of delayed healing and wound breakdown. Stopping even for the fortnight around surgery is worth doing.
- Diabetes, immunosuppression and steroids. All slow healing and raise infection risk; worth flagging at the consultation so aftercare can be adjusted.
- A collection under the wound. Blood or fluid filling the cavity adds pressure, discomfort and time.
The Scar, Realistically
Every removal leaves a mark. The realistic aim is a line that is flat, pale and ignorable — and the incision is usually shorter than the lipoma was wide, because fatty tissue delivers through a smaller opening than its diameter suggests.
Three things influence where it ends up, in descending order of importance: keeping the wound out of tension for two weeks; silicone gel or tape from two to three weeks, used daily for at least three months; and sun protection over the scar for twelve months, because a new scar that gets burnt pigments permanently. In Fitzpatrick IV–VI skin there is an additional risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, which changes how the site is managed rather than whether surgery is offered.
The Firm Ridge, and Why It Is Not a Recurrence
This is common enough to be worth expecting rather than worrying about: roughly 30% of patients feel a firm ridge or lump under the scar afterwards.
It peaks at around two to six weeks, then softens over the following two to three months. Scar maturation continues for up to twelve months after that. It is healing tissue, not the lipoma returning — a genuine recurrence after complete excision runs at under 1%.
Numbness Around the Scar
A small patch of numbness around the wound is common and expected. Most of it recovers over three to six months as the small sensory nerves regenerate. Occasionally a small area of permanently reduced sensation remains directly over the scar itself — at six months, that is the case in under 1% of removals.
Will It Come Back?
Recurrence depends almost entirely on whether the capsule came out with the contents. A complete excision — the lipoma delivered whole within its capsule — has a low recurrence rate. Techniques that remove the contents but leave the capsule behind, liposuction in particular, carry a meaningfully higher rate. That is the main reason excision is used for most lipomas even though liposuction sounds less invasive; the comparison is set out on the lipoma removal page.
A new lump elsewhere is a different matter from a recurrence at the same site. Some people simply form lipomas, and familial multiple lipomatosis runs in families — that is not a failure of the previous operation.
Common Questions
- How long does it take to recover from lipoma removal?
- The wound is sealed in about two weeks, normal activity returns over two to six weeks depending on the site and the size of the lipoma, and the scar takes twelve to eighteen months to finish maturing. Most people are back to ordinary life well before the scar has settled.
- When can I go back to work?
- Desk work is usually possible the next day. Physical work depends on whether the job loads the wound — a forearm lipoma and a back lipoma produce very different answers for the same occupation.
- When do the stitches come out?
- Typically 7 to 14 days after surgery, earlier where the skin is thin and healing is quick, later where the wound is under tension. Dissolvable sutures are sometimes used, in which case nothing needs removing.
- When can I go back to the gym?
- Two weeks at minimum, and longer after a large or deep excision. The constraint is wound tension rather than how you feel, and this is the single biggest influence on how the scar turns out.
- When can I drive?
- When you can perform an emergency stop and a full head check without hesitating because of the wound. That is days for most sites and longer for a shoulder or a right-sided lipoma. If you are unsure, check with your insurer.
- When can I swim or take a bath?
- Once the sutures are out and the wound has fully sealed. Soaking a healing wound softens it and carries an infection risk, which is why showering is fine well before bathing is.
- There is a hard lump under my scar. Has it come back?
- Almost always this is the healing ridge rather than a recurrence. It appears in the first few weeks, feels firm and slightly raised, and softens over several months. A lump that is growing rather than softening should be examined.
- How long does the swelling last?
- Most settles within two to three weeks, though a larger cavity can stay puffy for longer. Swelling that increases rather than decreases, particularly with tight fullness under the wound, suggests a collection of blood or fluid and should be looked at — the warning signs are set out in pain after lipoma removal.
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