Question:
Will a Lower Body Lift or Tummy Tuck help my flabby thigh skin?
I had heard the inner thigh lift is extremely painful. I was wondering if the LBL or Tummy Tuck helps tighten up some of the skin from the inner thigh. — Kelley (posted on April 30, 2005)
April 30, 2005
Both the plastic surgeon I talked to and seeing what others have posted, I
would say no. The LBL will only address the outer thighs.
— Ali M
April 30, 2005
The plastic surgeon that spoke at our support group said a LBL will not
have a huge impact on inner thighs. If your inner thighs are a real issue,
they will require a procedure all their own.
— Shayna T.
April 30, 2005
My LBL did not help my thighs. It did wonders for my tummy tho. I had the
inner thigh lift, and yes it has been hell, and not to mention, I am
seriously dissapointed at this point in the results.
— **willow**
April 30, 2005
My LBL did not help my inner thighs. There was initially some improvement
on my outer thighs, but after awhile, they're as lumpy as ever.
— mom2jtx3
May 1, 2005
Hello, I had the inner thigh light done twice; it is no more painful than
any other surgery. The SECRET to any plastic surgery is to have the right
doctor. The first time I had the inner thigh lift the dr. I used wanted to
do one leg at a time, I was not happy about this but I did it. I first leg
healed very quickly and looked very nice considering what it looked like
before I started. Than came the second leg 6 weeks later. WELL my body was
not ready for it. I think our bodies need allot of time to recuperate and
have surgery again. The minute I got in my bed from the second leg it
opened up to the bone. Luckily my mom was with me who is a nurse, she
called my aunt to come over who is a nurse and they put me back together.
The healing from that one is a really long story. If anyone wants to know
how to heal an open wound without getting an infection please email me
[email protected]. I will not try to sell you anything, you have to buy
all the supplies at the pharmacy, it is a really long story and I want to
finish this story.
Ok, so I year later I decided to use the same surgeon because the leg that
opened was hanging down worse than when I started, gravity had taken over.
The doctor never ordered the compression garment that you are supposed to
wear after surgery to hold your new body in place. So, I have him do the
leg lifts again and this I insist he do both legs at once and he did, they
healed nicely. However, still no compression garment and I did ask for him
to order one and he said you do not need one. He was wrong.
Two years later March 9, 2005 I went to a fabulous doctor in Boynton beach,
FL Dr. Mark Schreiber 561-738-0727. This man is amazing; he looks at your
body like it is a piece of art. I have already had him do a breast lift,
breast augmentation, and he removed 430cc of liposuction from my under
arms, stomach, thighs, and hips. He ordered the proper compression garment
which I had to wear for 8 weeks. The garment is crotch less so it is no
trouble to wear and have to use the restroom. He had me keep the tape over
the incision this prevents scaring. He treats me like a friend in the
office and I am very comfortable using him.
I found him by reading these boards on who had plastic surgery by what
doctor and his name kept appearing. He is fantastic and if you go to see
him you may tell him I sent you Shana Frankel from Florida.
I am having a lower by lift by him as soon my body if ready for more
surgery.
Oh yah you question, the lower body lift only lifts the legs if your doctor
specifically tells you he will. Each detail must be worked out before you
start and do not be afraid to ask questions.
Shana
[email protected]
— shana1569
May 1, 2005
I had the hip to hip incision tt. Didn't help my inner thighs at all. I
also had the inner thigh lift. Not half as painful as everyone says
(either that or I'm getting used to being cut on!!). I had more pain with
my arm lift then any other surgery - other then my RNY. Everyone's pain
threshold is different.
— Patty H.
May 2, 2005
Like the others have already said, the inner thighs are affected very
minimally and really only at the beginning because the outer thighs are
pulled up tight, so it gives some tension to inner skin, but not enough to
fix any sharpei legs, like I had.
(p)I dreaded the medial thigh lift. It was the 3rd surgery I had and done
8-1/2 months after the first PS and 5 months after the 2nd. However,
miracles do happen. Of all 3 surgeries the recovery of the inner thighs
was by far the best for me. It was incredibly painful and I did have the T
connection on the left leg open up some and had to let it heal from the
inside out, but even though, it was a much faster recovery than the others
and than I expected. The swelling was quite minimal considering what was
done also. I actually sat 4 hours in a meeting for work, 6 days after
surgery. I expected to be out 3-4 weeks and was back to work full time 12
days after surgery. I believe, for me, that it had all to do with the
extensive lipo work and preparation my surgeon did with my 2nd surgery. I
had the upper portion of my LBL done during the 2nd surgery as he could not
get all of the skin above the navel with the first surgery - strange
anatomy. So along with the upper torso work he also did VERY extensive
lipo on my legs. He removed 4 liters of fat from the two legs and this was
only from the knee up and most of it in the first 12 inches above the
knees. The pain, swelling, bruising etc was close to unbearable. I've
decided that lipo is the absolute worst PS. It took 3 weeks before I could
even begin to think about wearing some of the baggy legged pants I was
wearing before that surgery. To go back to work I had to go out and buy a
bunch of long dresses. I wore my compression garment that went from under
the breasts to the calfs for about 6-8 weeks, just to keep the legs from
swelling even worse. At about 3 weeks I could start to see the swelling
coming down but it took a good 3-1/2 months before it was all gone. My
surgeon said he would not even consider doing the skin removal for 4 months
after the lipo and now I know why. I waited 5 months and glad I did. I
needed to forget some of that pain before I put myself through surgery
again. As horrible as the lipo was, I know it gave me the best possible
results as he was just removing skin and very little fat, which I feel made
it less traumatic to my body. Nothing scientific to support it, but for
some reason it was not a horrible recovery. Even my surgeon had told me
that the inner thigh lift is the worst of all PS's that I would consider.
Many PS's in our area won't even do the medial thigh lift with the cut up
the inner leg. They will only do the horizntal cut in the groin and pull
up, which for me would have been a waste of time and money. I needed the
circumference made smaller. The problem is that the recovery and healing
from the inner thigh lift can be long and hard. Many times incisions open
up etc. My surgeon was very surprised also at my relatively easy
recovery.
<p>In hind sight, because I carry/carried so much of my weight in my
legs I should have done the thigh lift first and worked my way up. But I
had insurance coverage for the full extended abdominoplasty, so that's
where I started. I paid the difference to convert it to a LBL. However,
over time the lateral thigh lift has drooped and I'm sure the extra weight
on the legs had something to do with it. I now have noticeable saddle bags
again, but a nice flat tummy. My legs overall are not what I had hoped
they would be, but I do know he did his absolute best. The bottom line is
I will always have larger legs and some sag. I have large knees and due to
gravity it's impossible to get all of the vertical sag out at the knees.
Basically I need to have something under the skin to hold the skin up in
order to get the vertical sag gone. He said he feels they are within a few
years of having sort of a tack strip that you would slide under the skin
and anchor in place. Then you could pull up the skin and hang it on the
tack strip. Over a few years the tack strip would dissolve and the plan
would be that the tissue would have anchored down and stay pulled up. He
pulled as hard as he could and took off a lot vertically, but the knees
still sag some. At first I was disappointed but I have pretty much gotten
used to how they look. They are tons better than they were and I like that
there isn't all kinds of hanging skin when wearing shorts or a swimming
suit. I have scheduled a revision lift to the lateral thighs and butt for
late August assuming I can find $2000 and lose at least 10 lbs of the 10-15
I have found. My surgeon has agreed to redo the lift for next to nothing.
The majority of the $2000 is the surgery center cost. It's not like he did
anything wrong and feels he should do it cheap or free, but he also knows
I'm not made of money and wants me to look the best I can. He feels he can
take another 5 inches vertically off the lateral thighs, which will also
provide a little improvement to my knees to. He said the saddle bags will
sag again, but not nearly as much as they did this time and most likely I
will be happy with the result long term.
<p>Had I worked from the bottom up, so to speak, I might have avoided
a redo on the lateral thighs, but who knows. The bottom line is I had so
much skin to remove and the skin I have left is yucky quality, all stretch
marked and what not. One cannot expect to have their body severely
stretched out all of their life and then look like someone who's body never
exceeded a normal size by more than 20 lbs. The greater the amount of skin
to remove the more accepting we have to be of less than perfect. The funny
part is that before WLS and PS it was my gut that always drove my pants
size. Had to have pleats in too, if I was to stand a chance of wearing
them and not spliting them when I sat down. The waists were always too big
for me. Now it's the total opposite. Even with flat front pants they are
loose in the front and the legs will fit but it's the waist that's the
tightest. Unfortunately any weight that I gain tends to go right to the
waist also, so that's doesn't help either. It's strange, but I'd still
rather deal with that than the old body. There is a link to my PS pics on
my profile page. It shows start to finish with what I've had done so far.
If I had the money I could likely be in PS every 6 months tightening up
this and that and getting my arms and breasts done, but the reality is any
more PS will be a ways off due to finances. After the lateral thigh lift
redo it's be happy with who far my body has come and go on with life.
— zoedogcbr
June 2, 2005
The LBL helped some with my outer thighs...but not alot carried a great
deal of my weight here preop WLS.Maybe my last surgeon was to conservative
on what he took off??I just had a inner thigh lift last Wensday and its a T
incision that goes down to about 1 inch before you get to my knee,and it
curves around and goes up under my butt to about 1-1 and half inches before
you hit my hip bone,I can already see abig difference in my back thigh,BIG
difference.I can even still see I have some outer thigh flab/skin up higher
that this was not able to address either.I probaly going to have to have a
revison to my LBL.I am so ready to be done with plastics.
Jamie
— jamie H.
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