Day 14 after skin surgery and the scale is nonsense

2026-10-17 13:31

Day 14 after skin removal, and my scale is doing its best impression of a water balloon. I weigh every morning, but I’ve been watching the 7-day average instead. It’s up 1.8 lb from surgery morning, while my 30-day slope is still gently down.

The compression garment, swelling, and whatever fluids my body is hoarding are louder than any fat gain could be in two weeks. The trend-line zen part of my brain knows this. The daily weigher part still side-eyes the number.

I’m logging it, drinking water, hitting protein, and taking short walks when I feel up to it. No panic, no big conclusions. For anyone who’s been through skin removal: how long before the scale started reflecting reality again instead of recovery noise?

2026-10-27 23:38

Fellow daily-weigher here. One thing that helped me when compression was in the mix: I stopped comparing raw mornings and started logging time since garment off.

Same 5-min window, after bathroom, before coffee. My 7-day average got way less jagged, and I could see the actual trend instead of the fluid layer.

I also took waist/hip tape every Sunday, because the scale hated me while the tape moved down. Are you tracking garment hours or just morning weight?

That might be the hidden variable right now.

2026-10-30 10:07

I’d argue the 7-day average is still too jumpy for post-op fluid. I’d log a 14-day median alongside it, plus a same-time waist/hip circumference and a dumb 1–5 swelling score.

In my own spreadsheet, the scale average lagged circumference by about a week: scale +2.1 lb while waist +0.75 in, then both reversed within 72h. What’s your 30-day slope in lb/week?

That’s the line I’d actually trust at day 14.