Thigh Lift Surgery

Patients who have experienced significant weight loss, often in combination with advancing age, experience sagging skin in a number of areas of the body. The cause of sag is due to either the body exceeding the elastic recoil of the tissue after weight gain or, as a result of the skin losing its natural elasticity through age. In the vast majority of cases a combination of these two is to blame.

One common site where this gives a cosmetically undesirable effect is sagging inner thighs. Sagging thighs make it difficult for patients to wear the clothes they would choose and certainly make it hard to wear loose fitting items. There may also be a functional aspect to having flapping skin making it harder to exercise, self care or care for others. In extreme cases, thigh and groin hygiene can also be affected.

If you believe that your excess thigh skin causes you physical or psychological distress then it may well be worth considering a discussion with a plastic surgeon to see what can be done to improve things for you.

Please view the short video below where Adam talks though aspects of thigh and arm lifts:

Initial Consultation

Your initial consultation will discuss your thighs but also you general health and suitability for surgery in general.

Our primary concern is your physical well being. Has your weight loss been gentle, well maintained and steady. Are you now at a weight that you can be happy with going forward. Your exact weight is not necessarily the most important factor more, that this is a weight you believe you can maintain for the rest of your life.

Thigh lift surgery can be minor or intermediate or, not unusually, in combination with other weight loss skin surgery. Almost all thigh lift surgery is performed under a general anaesthetic and so your fitness for such a procedure will be assessed. Your skin quality and degree of stretch is a factor. For some patients the sagging not only extends down towards the knee but can also extend beyond and round the knee. The excess skin often gathers in folds towards the lower thigh and knee in the most extreme cases.

You will be given a range of options which are best suited to you. In the vast majority of cases, surgery is the only really effective way to improve significant thigh sagging. If there are any non surgical techniques available these will be discussed. If you decide to go ahead then you will be given a quote for the surgery including all post surgical care and recovery. This quote will include consideration of any complications and additional care or management.

The Surgery

Thigh Lift surgery, as mentioned, is performed under general anaesthetic. In the mildest of cases an incision along the groin crease where the underwear sits can be performed but this will only tighten very subtle sagging which does not extend far down the length of the thigh.

Your surgical experience will start with information sent, photographs and consent. The process and potential complications of thigh lift surgery will be discussed in detail. This is your opportunity to ask any questions you may have as well as consider what outcome you’re hoping to achieve and discuss the potential downsides to arm lift surgery.

On the day of surgery, you will be seen by your surgeon and anesthetist. Markings will be made and you will be brought to theatre under general anaesthetic. Thigh lift surgery usually involves a combination of liposuction to remove the circumferential fat of the thigh and then removal of the excess skin with closure achieved with dissolving stitches without too much tension.

After what is typically an hour long surgery, unless combined with other procedures, you will be returned to the day case ward for your immediate recovery.

Recovery

Your dressings will include a absorbent waterproof dressing on the wounds themselves with some additional sticky dressings to support the skin as it heals. You will be able to shower as long as you don’t soak the dressings completely. Your activity will be limited by your ability to separate your legs too widely and simply by comfort. Thigh lift surgery is not one of the more painful surgical procedures but, should you experience pain or discomfort then post operative medication will be issued.

The key consideration is to be able to take it easy for at least one to two weeks following your operation to allow the skin to heal without additional tension or stress. Follow up will be arranged typically for approximately one week where the dressings will be removed and the wounds inspected. At this point the surgical scars often look crimped and uneven. This is entirely normal and should not cause concern. The skin inevitably relaxes and the scars soften and straighten over a three to six week period following surgery.

Potential Complications

Thigh lift surgery, although relatively straight forward, is not without it’s potential complications. The key consideration is the balance between scar tension and aesthetic result. Unfortunately these two completely oppose each other. For this reason, closure of the wounds needs to be done without excessive tension. Tension causes the car scars to widen, separate and become lumpy and thick. Attempting to achieve too much tightness can not only cause stretched scars but can cause a transient compromise of blood supply to the skin and to the extremity. For this reason, an ideal thigh lift employs just the right amount of tension. ‘A little bit tighter’ is almost certain to result in a worse result overall. Sadly, as many patients will already know, skin relaxes. Skin relaxation the reason why thigh lift surgery is needed in the first place. The scars even when stitched as tight as is safely possible will inevitably soften and relax and some of the laxity will return. This is not a complication but an inevitable result of thigh lift surgery and needs to be considered by the patient before deciding to go ahead.

Some patients make slightly unsightly scars. Again this is due to the elastic quality of their individual skin and sometimes their skin pigmentation and sometimes, ethnicity. Scar management techniques can improve the quality of the scars but the inner thigh area is not an area in the body well known for making perfect scars. Furthermore, with legs together, the scars are hard to see but with any separation, the potentially long scars may be visible. This is important to understand and accept as, especially in the early phases, the scars from thigh lift surgery are not hard to find. Again, you will be consented on how this one of the downsides to thigh lift surgery in general.

Infections or wound breakdown are not uncommon. These are often effectively treated with oral antibiotics, but occasionally require additional surgery. Even excellent looking scars in the early phases post recovery, can subsequently stretch and become red or rarely, hypertrophic or keloid. Again scar quality will be discussed in detail prior to surgery.

Is Thigh Lift Surgery for me?

If you are concerned about the heaviness and fullness of your inner thighs then thigh lift surgery is certainly worth considering. The trade off, as discussed, is an improvement in contour at the cost of potentially relatively long scars which usually heal very well, but there is no guarantee of this. Please bear all of these factors in mind when discussing thigh lift surgery with your surgeon.