Your Thigh Lift Consultation

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The consultation is a vital part in the preparation of any surgical procedure.  You will get the opportunity to have a one-to-one private appointment with the surgeon who will perform the thigh lift surgery.  For this reason it is important to arrive prepared with any questions or concerns you may still have.  It is perfectly acceptable to come in prepared with a written list of questions if necessary, as this may be your only opportunity to discuss in detail your surgery.

The discussion will revolve around your medical history, expectations, understanding of the risks involved, how the procedure will unfold, aftercare and recovery.  This will include a look at any medication you might currently be taking and your current lifestyle.  The consultant may advise you to temporarily stop taking certain supplements for example, so it is important to include those medicines which are taken off–label, as well as those that are prescribed.  Even natural remedies can powerfully interact with other chemicals, so if in doubt, it is advisable to take the bottles with you in case your doctor needs to identity any of the ingredients or is not familiar with the trade name. 

Your Lifestyle

Your lifestyle can have a significant impact on how you recover from surgery, from healing of scars to energy levels.  Consequently, your surgeon will seek to advise you to maintain high activity levels and eat a healthy diet if possible.  During this discussion, they may be able to make some constructive, practical suggestions as to how to do this, or refer you to a reputable nutritionist and gym. This is to be taken as seriously as the surgery itself, as improvements to your lifestyle could help maintain the youthful and supple appearance desired from thigh lift surgery, as well as make a great deal of difference to discomfort and motivation levels after surgery.  In addition, if you are a smoker you will be asked to give up until several weeks after surgery.  Some clinics will test that this has been successfully done before surgery, due to the increased risks of complications in the operating theatre, and the inhibition of recovery.  A mere reduction in smoking is simply not enough; a complete stop must occur.  This requires a great deal of will power and sacrifice, which provides another reason to consider how much the surgery will improve your quality of life.  It also might be helpful to start with the use of aids such as nicotine patches in advance of the consultation, making you more certain of success in the critical few weeks before surgery.

Assessments

As well as this, your consultant or a nurse will take a number of simple measurements of health, including blood pressure readings and peak flow tests for lung capacity.  Basic blood tests and allergy tests can also be used to screen for various problems before surgery commences, such as an allergy to anaesthetics. The consultant will then examine your thighs in detail, while clarifying what effect you precisely require.  They will check that there is enough excess skin and that it appears safe to proceed, and will take detailed measurements.  They may also draw their intended line of incision on you, which will give a reasonably good indication of the course of the scar.  At this point it is worth discussing the extent of the scar and its visibility.  It is possible to make the surgical cuts higher up in order to make them less visible in certain clothing, but this may compromise the level of lift achieved.  Your consultant will try to take all of your points into consideration to achieve the best outcome for you.  These measurements and plans will also give the consultant a clearer idea of cost, which the surgeon may either discuss directly with you, or refer you to a finance or customer services team.

You may have pictures taken for your medical records and for comparison after your recovery.  These should be taken in a way that maintains your dignity, and you have the right to refuse or deny publication on the company’s website, provided it is not in the terms and conditions of the company.  You will then be required to sign a consent form to certify that you agree to surgery, the terms and conditions of the company (which usually restricts the opportunity to sue should you be unhappy with the result of your surgery or conduct of the company) and usually your willingness to be resuscitated if you go into trauma, or to receive a blood transfusion should the need arise.  When this is completed, if the aftercare offered by the company is limited or you are based far away from your clinic, it is advisable to request a short written report detailing the procedure mutually chosen by you and the consultant.  In this way, you have some information to produce for your home General Practitioner, should you require extra aftercare at home.  The more information they have at their disposal, the more they can help.  This is especially true if they are less familiar with plastic surgery and you have internal symptoms rather than an easily identifiable surface complication.

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