October 2021

Thinking of a Thigh Lift?

Usually reserved for patients achieving significant weight-loss goals, thighplasty acts as a critical step in reducing overall weight because of the heavy excess skin and fat pockets that surgeons remove. The typical incision sight begins around the groin and wraps around the thigh towards the buttocks. This procedure reshapes the thighs, leading to a smoother and proportionate contouring without the heavy folds or ripples. Other areas that weight loss patients tend to request help with include the arms or tummy but a thigh lift is already a larger procedure that requires general anesthesia and hours of operation, so additional procedures would likely be inadvisable unless they are minimally invasive.[1] 

 

Best ways to avoid complications

Knowing what to do in order to heal well after cosmetic surgery takes some basic skill but, with a few pieces of advice, you can set off on the right foot. Besides asymmetry or cell necrosis, which largely fall outside your control, complications from infection and bad scarring are what you can personally avoid with good care. The biggest chunk of time spent in post-operation recovery lasts anywhere between 2-3 weeks, while it takes only 2 days for your incision to seal up with collagen. Waiting an additional 5 days before showering is typically recommended and any supportive garments would be worn for about the same amount of time. Remember, collagen acts as the first building blocks for new skin but it takes a full year for that area to restore the cells to their previous strength and elasticity.

 

Adding liposuction to a thigh lift 

If you are imagining a thigh lift as primarily useful for the removal of excess fat, this is the wrong way to think about it. Liposuction alone can remove and redistribute excess fat pockets to gain a more aesthetically pleasing look. Anywhere the skin still has a decent ability to stretch and snap back into its original tight form would be a good place to contour via liposuction. So, the extent to which your surgeon relies on lifting the thigh versus liposuction will obviously depends on the strength of skin elasticity in around the buttocks and thigh region. The good news is that these two procedures are commonly performed together and also complement one another quite well.[2]

 

Active ways to tone and combat cellulite

The fat compartments we build up in childhood exist for the extent of our lives, which often makes weight gain and loss a significant life-long burden. No cream, supplement pill or body wrap can effectively change the appearance or fat and cosmetic surgery can only redistribute the cells to contour an area. As the American Council on Exercise says, body wraps give temporary shaping and liposuction only removes fat without changing the appearance of it. To truly tone and adjust the appearance of cellulite, be inspired by the following advice:

Considering that thigh lift patients have likely already passed through psychological check-ups and achieved incredible weight-loss goals, some of this advice might not be new to you. However, this information is equally applicable to those that would love to see their aging skin restored to an earlier glory and might need to still put in the extra effort to take the transformation up a notch.

 

Sources: 

[1] “Thighplasty.” American Society of Bariatric Plastic Surgeons (ASBPS), 15 Feb. 2016, www.asbps.org/content/procedures/thighplasty. 

[2] “Thigh Lift.” American Society of Plastic Surgeons, www.plasticsurgery.org/cosmetic-procedures/thigh-lift. 

[3] Voza, Luann. “My Thighs Look Terrible With Cellulite & Loose Skin.” Healthfully, Leaf Group Ltd, 18 Dec. 2018, healthfully.com/my-thighs-look-terrible-with-cellulite-loose-skin-5186375.html.