Post-Operative Lymphatic Drainage
Post-operative manual lymphatic drainage is a gentle technique used after surgery to reduce swelling, support fluid movement and promote healing. It helps minimize inflammation and improve comfort while you recover. It is performed by our licensed esthetician, at Mafi Plastic Surgery in Fresno, California, the same practice as Mafi Surgery Center, where Dr. Mafi operates.
Book a consultationWhat is
Post-Operative
Lymphatic Drainage?
A gentle manual lymphatic drainage technique designed to reduce swelling, support fluid movement and promote healing after a surgical procedure. It is not a skin treatment. It belongs to a recovery.
Swelling is part of how the body heals, and the technique works with that rather than against it: it is hands-on, gentle by design, and used to help fluid move while you are still healing. What that is for is minimizing inflammation and improving comfort through the part of recovery that is hardest to sit through.
This is the one treatment in the med spa that belongs to the surgical side of the practice. Dr. Mafi operates at Mafi Surgery Center, the practice’s own facility within the same plaza as the office in Fresno, accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. The team that planned your surgery and the esthetician who performs your drainage work within walking distance of each other.
Whether drainage belongs in your recovery, and when it should begin, is decided with your surgeon rather than chosen from a menu. If Dr. Mafi performed your procedure, that conversation happens at a post-operative visit.
It is a manual technique and a gentle one, which is what makes it appropriate while you are still healing from surgery.
The technique is designed to reduce swelling and support the movement of fluid after a surgical procedure.
It helps minimize inflammation and improve comfort, which is most of what makes the early part of a recovery easier to get through.
There is no standard schedule published here, because when to begin depends on the procedure you had and on how your recovery is going. Your surgeon sets it.
Is post-operative drainage right for me?
Recovery is part of the result, so it gets planned too.
Drainage is arranged around your procedure and your recovery, which is why whether it belongs in your plan is settled with your surgeon rather than at booking. It may be part of yours if:
You Are Healing From Surgery
The technique is for the period after a surgical procedure, not for a skin routine.
Swelling
Swelling that is a normal part of healing and that you want help reducing.
Fluid Movement
You want the movement of fluid supported while your body does the rest.
Inflammation
Keeping inflammation to a minimum is part of what you are trying to get through.
Comfort While You Heal
The early part of recovery is uncomfortable and you would like it to be less so.
Priced per treatment.
Scheduled by your recovery.
Drainage is timed to a surgical recovery rather than booked like a facial, so how many appointments you need is answered at a post-operative visit, by someone who has looked at how you are healing. This is what each one costs.
Prefer to talk? Call (559) 890-6500.
A gentle manual lymphatic drainage technique that reduces swelling, supports fluid movement and promotes healing after surgical procedures. It helps minimize inflammation, improve comfort and accelerate recovery.
Prices are per treatment and are subject to change. Mafi Plastic Surgery works with CareCredit, Cherry and PatientFi, so treatment can be spread across monthly payments, and our team is happy to help you apply.
Common questions about post-operative drainage
Ask us when you call. Drainage is timed to a surgical recovery rather than booked like a facial, so it is arranged in step with the plan your surgeon set. If Dr. Mafi performed your procedure, the surgical and med spa sides sit in the same practice and the scheduling is straightforward. If you had surgery elsewhere, call the office at (559) 890-6500 and we will tell you what is possible rather than guess for you here.
Do I have to have had my surgery here?
Ask us when you call. Drainage is timed to a surgical recovery rather than booked like a facial, so it is arranged in step with the plan your surgeon set. If Dr. Mafi performed your procedure, the surgical and med spa sides sit in the same practice and the scheduling is straightforward. If you had surgery elsewhere, call the office at (559) 890-6500 and we will tell you what is possible rather than guess for you here.
Plan Your
Recovery
Ask about manual lymphatic drainage at your consultation or your post-operative visit, and it can be built into the recovery rather than added to it late.
Prefer to talk? Call (559) 890-6500.
Medically reviewed by Parham Mafi, M.D., F.A.C.S., board-certified plastic surgeon at Mafi Plastic Surgery. This page is for education and is not a substitute for a personalized medical consultation.
Last medically reviewed August 2026Updated