Cardi B: The Likely Reason She’s Suffering From Swollen Feet & Tummy After Plastic Surgery

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Singer Cardi B, 26, announced to her over 45 million social media followers this week that she was taking a very unwanted break from performing to focus on her health, and after seeing the evidence, we totally get why! Cardi, who recently admitted to having liposuction and a breast augmentation after giving birth to daughter Kulture 10 months ago, posted a photo of her massively swollen feet while also complaining of a puffy stomach. “Look how swollen my feet get every time I take a plane, imagine my body,” she posted on her Instagram story. “My stomach gets even more puffy. My feet and stomach burn when I get puffed up. Reasons why doctors told me to chill on shows.”

We wanted to get to the bottom of this and find out just why these complications are happening to Cardi!  HollywoodLife recently chatted EXCLUSIVELY with Dr. Richard Brown, a plastic surgeon who does not treat Cardi, and author of The Real Beauty Bible, to find out why one of our favorite hip hop queens has been swelling up.

HL: Cardi B complained of swollen feet? What kind of plastic surgery would cause this?

Dr. Brown: Any kind of plastic surgery or any other surgery of any kind can lead to fluid shifts in the body. If a patient has liposuction we inject salt water to wet the fat cells to make them easier to break up and suction out, and we place some medications to help reduce bleeding at the same time. Therefore, fluid can be retained for several days or even a week, so that can lead to swelling.

HL: Are swollen feet a common complication?

Dr. Brown: Having swollen feet is not a complication. Having a blood clot that causes swelling is a complication. Having swollen feet due to injuring a major blood vessel during surgery is a complication. Just simply having swollen feet from all the fluids being used could lead to normal acceptable swelling of the feet, legs, arms or hands. Cardi also said her stomach gets swollen, so why is that and what work did she have done to cause that? As I haven’t personally treated her, I can only speculate.  I read something about liposuction, and if that is what she had and had the swelling in her abdomen, then yes you can have swelling from liposuction. She could also have a fluid collection there if she had really aggressive liposuction because basically it is an internal wound and the body is trying to heal it.

HL: How much could flying and Cardi’s crazy schedule have to do with this?

Dr. Brown: In general, anyone who has been flying on a plane for long periods of time and sitting in one position with knees bent is at risk for blood clots in the legs. That combined with any recent surgery drastically increases that risk. Even someone who has not had recent surgery can be at risk. If she has been flying a lot lately then it would be reasonable to check for blood clots that could cause the swelling. These are all possibilities, but without really knowing for fact the timelines of procedures its difficult to assess her real risk. Nonetheless that ankle swelling is not what I would consider normal in an otherwise healthy person. There are other things like high blood pressure history known as hypertension that can cause swelling as well, but I am unaware of her specific health history