Thigh Lift

Thigh lift surgery is an intricate body lift that requires the careful and skilled hands of a specialist plastic surgeon. Thus, a series of consultations is very important before you go through this cosmetic surgery.

During your initial consultation, your trusted plastic surgeons in Melbourne will discuss fully the steps that you will be going through from preoperative to postoperative. This includes any risks and complications that may arise during and after the surgery.

A series of questions will also be asked regarding your personal, health and medical history. At this time, he will also evaluate the condition of your thighs and the laxity of your skin. He will also determine if Thighplasty is indeed the most ideal treatment for you.

Your specialist plastic surgeon will then schedule you for another consultation after 2 weeks to ensure that you fully understand the procedure of thigh lift and if you are truly ready for the procedure. During the 2-week interval, it is highly recommended that you avoid consuming anything that may affect the surgery such as smoking, alcoholic beverages and blood-thinning substances.

Just like any other surgical procedure, you may need to bring a set of comfortable clothes for you to change on after the procedure. In case your surgeon requires that you bring a compression garment, find the best quality and size that suits you.

Most importantly, it is highly advisable to bring a friend or family along to accompany you throughout the surgery and who can bring you home after the procedure.

The types of Thighplasty varies on the needs of patients. The procedure depends on which part of the thigh needs enhancement. That is, where skin reduction or fat extraction should be made.

Here are the types of Thighplasty available in Melbourne:

Inner Thigh Lift

An inner thigh lift aims to reduce the appearance of excess skin and fat at the inner thighs. In which case, an incision is made at the peak of the height of the thigh. It is usually the crease of your inner thigh, bikini line or groin area.

In most cases, an excision of a predetermined amount of skin is made at the incision site. After removing the unwanted skin, the remaining part of the thigh is lifted to achieve the desired thigh tightening of the patient.

Medial Thigh Lift

This thigh enhancement cosmetic surgery involves the improvement of the inner upper thigh. In which case, an incision is typically made from the crease of the buttock to the groin area. The excision of the skin is made thereat and in case there is a need to extract fats, liposuction through the incision will also be performed.

The amount of skin reduction and fat extraction depends on the needs of the patients and as determined during their consultation with the surgeon. Afterwhich, the remaining skin is lifted and sutured to create the appearance that the patient desires.

Outer Thigh Lift

This is sometimes referred to as bilateral thigh lift. The outer thigh lift is a thigh plastic surgery that uses the circumferential lower body technique. In essence, it may also include the enhancement of the buttocks in one procedure.

Although this type of thigh lift surgery may require a longer incision, it can help improve the shape, size and contour of your thighs. It also helps eliminate skin laxity while imploring soft and smooth skin in the thigh area including your buttocks.

In some cases, an outer thigh lift procedure may also necessitate the liposuction of excess fat. This is typically ascertained during your consultation and explained in detail by your surgeon.

During your consultation with your surgeon, he or she will determine the best thigh lift surgery that suits your needs. This will be based on the evaluation and diagnosis that he will conduct during your consultation. In which case, your surgeon will discuss how this surgical procedure can help you achieve your body lifting goals.

Do you have sagging skin on your thighs?

Do the excess fats on your thighs seem to weigh you down?

Or perhaps you feel the laxity of loose skin on your thigh?

If your answer is “yes” to any or all of these questions, then you can be a good candidate for thigh lift surgery. In some instances, patients who experience extreme weight loss may also incur loose or sagging skin. Thus, a thigh lift can be a good option to remove excess skin.

There are many factors that can contribute to the advancement of skin ageing or the sagging of the thighs. In essence, skin laxity does not only occur in your thighs but in your entire body.

Some of these factors include the following:

Genetics

This is something that you cannot escape. You will surely inherit the body structures of your parents. One of the rarest conditions that patients may inherit from their parents is the Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or EDS. This skin condition presupposes impaired production of natural collagen in the skin.

Advanced Ageing

Age-related loss of skin elasticity and firmness can result in loose skin. In some cases, it can also be attributable to the loss or diminishing of collagen supply.

Weight Fluctuations

This is one of the more popular causes why a patient may incur the growth of excess skin. When you become overweight, you tend to lose the natural collagen and elastin substances in your body, hence contributing to skin laxity.

If a patient opts for a weight loss regime, the skin tends to lose its capability to snap back to its original tone. Thus, resulting in sagging skin.

Pregnancy

During pregnancy, women tend to have stretched skin not only in the tummy area but also in other parts of the body including the thigh, leg, arm and breast. After childbirth, weight loss may also be experienced by mothers. Thus, resulting in sagging skin.

Generally, thigh lift procedures involve the following steps:

Anaesthetics

This involves the administration of general anaesthesia by a licensed anesthesiologist. In some cases, regional spinal anaesthesia or local anaesthesia is recommended instead of general anaesthesia.

Incisions

This is the medical cut needed to gain access to the skin, fat and the underlying tissue of your thigh. the most optimum incision site will be determined by your surgeon during his diagnosis. This typically depends on the type of thigh lift that is most suitable for your needs.

Excisions

This phase of the procedure involves the removal of excess skin which also alleviates its laxity. The right amount of skin to be removed is predetermined during the evaluation and diagnosis phase.

Liposuction

This is an optional stage of the procedure. It is only performed when necessary. That is when there are excess fats in the thigh that needs to be extracted. The amount of fat is also predetermined during the evaluation and diagnosis phase.

Suturing

Just like in any other plastic surgery, when an incision is made, it also needs to be closed or sutured. This process of thigh lift surgery involves closing the incisions after removing the loose skin and extraction of the unwanted fats.

Compression Garments

After plastic surgeons make sure that your incisions are sutured properly, he or she will suit you up with a compression garment to ensure better blood and oxygen circulation. Compression garments also help accelerate the recovery process of patients.

Reevaluation

This typically happens 2 weeks following the procedure. Your surgeon will schedule you for a return checkup to ensure that you are recovering well from the thigh reduction treatment. This will also help your surgeon reevaluate whether or not the procedure was a success.

Thigh lift surgery generally takes about 2 hours to complete. However, depending on the type of thigh lift, the patient’s skin laxity, the amount of skin and fat to be removed and other auxiliary processes, the procedure can be performed longer or shorter than two hours.

Generally, patients may feel some wooziness after the surgery, especially when the anaesthetics gradually loses its effects. You may also feel mild to moderate pain, swelling and redness in the surgery area. Thus, the use of compression garments can help alleviate these downtimes.

In some cases, you may be asked to stay in hospital for the next 24 hours for observation. However, some patients may opt to return home a few hours after the surgery.

During your 1 to 2 day stay in hospital after the surgery, your doctor will observe postoperative effects including risks and complications. In which case, your doctor can give you timely attention and medication.

Just like any other surgical treatment, thigh lift surgery carries risks and complications such as the following:

• Unwarranted bleeding at the incisions;
• Irritation and infection;
• Unexpected opening of sutures or surgical wounds;
• Asymmetry or imbalanced shape and size of the thighs;
• Improper healing which may result in scars on the incisions;
• Nerve damage may lead to numbness of the thighs and legs;
• Seroma or risk of blood and fluid accumulation in the area of surgery; and
• Mild to moderate swelling where the incisions were made.

Although some of these risks and complications can be threatening, they can also be prevented if a patient follows all the patient care guidelines that his or her doctor provides. This may include proper diet and exercise.

Generally, it takes about 4 to 8 weeks to recover from the treatment. This includes getting back your utmost health with the hopes of minimized scars on the incision sites including the inner thighs, groin, bikini line or buttocks.

SKIN CLUB Cosmetic Doctors offers comprehensive consultation, evaluation, diagnosis, surgical procedures, recovery assistance for thigh lift surgery.

You may contact our clinic by calling the number on this page or by completing the form with your first name, last name, email address and contact information. Our patient coordinator will then get in touch with you for scheduling and confirmation.

Take that first step to learning more about thigh lift surgery, give us a call today!