Is a Thigh Lift Suitable for me?

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Before any surgery can go ahead, a consultation with your doctor is necessary to establish that you are a good candidate for such surgery.  This will involve a number of questions and simple tests (such as lung-functioning, blood pressure and blood count tests) of indicators of good health, as well as ascertaining your reasons for wanting to have such a procedure.  A physical examination of the area to assess the extent of the looseness of skin and the condition of it is also necessary.  However, before booking a consultation or settling on surgery as a possible solution, it is worth considering the following factors which affect suitability:

• Fitness and Diet
• Pre-Existing Medical Conditions
• Smoking
• Tissue
• Weight
• Realistic Outlook

Fitness & Diet

A healthy lifestyle is one of the most encouraging signs of suitability for non-essential surgery.  General health is a good predictor of post-operation recovery, and a high level of fitness and good diet suggest a faster rate of healing.  A fitter body is also more capable of fighting infection, which you will be increasingly vulnerable to with a fresh wound and fatigue.

Pre-Existing Medical Conditions

Conversely, having a pre-existing medical condition can jeopardise your chances of being offered surgery by a reputable clinic.    These can include epilepsy, diabetes, prior heart attacks, or immunodeficiency disorders.  Other risk factors are phlebitis (inflamed blood vessels) in the leg or a known allergy to anaesthetic.  In addition, previous development of keloids (scars that enlarge and harden into firm growths) should be taken into account.  While the latter would not prohibit surgery, the size and position of the incision might have to be considered with more care.  It may be tempting to conceal known medical problems in order to have the procedure, but this might invalidate any medical insurance you might have, as well as cause needless (and perhaps fatal) complications.  What is more, most clinics will require you to sign a consent form certifying that you have disclosed all known medical conditions.  If you have any queries or worries about any hereditary susceptibilities you may have, a check up and rudimentary tests should be arranged with your General Practitioner.

Smoking

Regular smoking is known to restrict lung capacity and affect blood circulation.  As such, it can cause serious problems if complications arise under anaesthetic, and with non-essential surgery this is a risk which some surgeons are simply not willing to take.  Most surgeons will advise their patients to stop smoking in preparation for the procedure, and some will demand that all smoking is stopped three weeks prior to surgery and until recovery is complete. 

Tissue

The skin on your legs will also be examined during a consultation to ensure that there is an excess of soft tissue which can be safely removed, rather than the presence of a more medically concerning problem caused by an undetected condition.

Weight

Although recommended particularly for those that have lost a significant amount of weight, thigh lift surgery is advised only to be undertaken after a steady weight has been maintained for some time.  It is important to wait until your desired target weight is reached rather than immediately opting for surgery when excess skin becomes noticeable.  This is because if more weight is lost, even the taut skin will become loose on the slimmer thighs, necessitating another costly operation over the same area of skin.  Likewise, putting weight back on (even temporarily) will stretch the skin, so subsequent weight loss will again result in sagging skin. 

Although the operation is also desirable for overweight patients, the procedure is not recommended for those who are classed as clinically obese.  Pending other tests of health and fitness, the procedure may still go ahead, but obesity carries the risk of secondary problems, such as high blood pressure, sleep apnoea and cardiovascular disease.  These make an operation significantly more dangerous.

Realistic Outlook

Even if considered physically fit enough to have the procedure, it is important that you consider your reasons for doing so, as unrealistic expectations or a false perception of what such a procedure can offer might result in a costly mistake.  By discussing this with an expert, you will have the opportunity to feel confident that your financial and emotional investment is being correctly focused on the right procedure, and that you will be satisfied with the results.  Those looking for a complete change of figure will be disappointed by what a lift can do, and may require liposuction and more extensive cosmetic surgery to keep the rest of their body in proportion.  Others searching for an easy way to achieve a beautiful body will also be disillusioned by the healthy lifestyle that they will be asked to maintain, and some may be sent away by their surgeon to try less extreme alternatives first, such as thigh toning.  It is also common for some people to approach cosmetic surgery as a way to immediately gain in confidence and feel completely content with their bodies, but it is worth asking yourself if such a cost is worth it, and whether this would indeed be the end of your emotional insecurities.

To see if thigh lift surgery is really what you are looking for, it is a worthwhile use of time to look at some of the case studies published on the internet.  Through these it may be possible to identify someone with a similar previous situations and similar goals, and assess their outcome and their satisfaction with it.  Some clinics even having a policy of helping you make contacts with previous clients that are happy to do so, and this might give you a useful opportunity to discuss the procedure from the patient’s point of view, before committing to surgery.

A caveat to bear in mind, however, is that clinics would not publish negative testimonials or use dissatisfied ambassadors.  In order to gain a rounded view of what is realistic to expect, searching for blog entries on the internet or asking friends about any contacts they might have is more likely to provide access to the disadvantages, as well as benefits to be expected from thigh lift surgery.

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