The thighs are a hot spot for so many women. While excess weight in the outer thighs may be addressed with liposuction, what do you do for drooping skin on the inner thighs? This is a common problem with age and for patients who’ve undergone massive weight loss. A thigh lift is a surgical procedure that removes excess skin in order to lift and tighten the entire upper leg. Depending on your anatomy, this may be accomplished with only a medial incision around the groin, but any surgical thigh lift is going to leave a scar. Since no amount of exercise can improve the look of drooping skin on your thighs, some patients find the scar to be a fair trade-off.

Board certified plastic surgeon Dr. Bruce Van Natta believes in staying at the forefront of new innovation and techniques. This includes offering his Indianapolis patients the option of a minimally invasive thigh lift with the BodyTite. This cutting edge technology is extremely effective in patients with only a mild degree of skin laxity. The right thigh lift option for you is going to depend on your anatomy, goals and lifestyle.

Thigh Lift Consultation

As with any plastic surgery procedure, whether surgical or non-surgical, it is vital that you be assessed in person. During your thigh lift consultation, Dr. Van Natta will listen to your grievances when it comes to your legs. He will perform a thorough physical exam, assessing the amount of sagging in your upper thighs as well as your skin tone or elasticity. Then, together, you will discuss the best treatment options for your individual needs. This may include a surgical thigh lift, with or without liposuction, or a BodyTite procedure. The latter may also be recommended post surgery to smooth out skin tone and texture. All of these options will be discussed with you in detail. Dr. Van Natta prides himself on being very honest with his patients about what will and will not work with your individual body.

Surgical Thigh Lift

In patients who’ve lost a massive amount of weight or who have severe sagging in their upper thighs due to age, a surgical thigh lift is going to be the gold standard. It really allows Dr. Van Natta to create an improved contour for your upper leg. Depending on the severity of the problem, he may perform a medial thigh lift or a vertical thigh lift. In the medial thigh lift, the incision is placed around the groin area. In the majority of cases, however, a vertical component needs to be added in order to excise excess skin from the groin to the knee. If you also suffer from a preponderance of fat in the area, Dr. Van Natta may combine your thigh lift with liposuction to really re-contour the leg. However, he generally prefers not to combine this surgery with a tummy tuck. It results in a “tug of war” between the two incisions that does not lead to optimum results. If you are a massive weight loss patient who is undergoing a number of body contouring procedures, he will work with you to determine the best way to stage your thigh lift procedure.

BodyTite® Thigh Lift

The BodyTite® is a minimally invasive procedure that can be done under light anesthetic in the office with little to no downtime. It uses radio frequency to melt excess fat and tighten the skin. During the procedure, a probe that looks a bit like an oversized two prong fork is inserted through small incisions on your thigh. One prong moves below the skin and one above. The heat travels between the two prongs. It is completely safe and very effective in a patient with only a mild degree of skin laxity. BodyTite® can also be a nice adjunct to a surgical thigh lift or liposuction of the thighs in order to tighten the skin and smooth out any lumps or bumps.

Thigh Lift Recovery

A surgical tight lift is performed at our accredited Meridian Plastic Surgery Center under general anesthesia. A compression garment is typically only needed if liposuction was also performed. You can expect to be bruised and swollen for a couple of weeks, but most patients only need to take 2-4 days off work, depending on your job. Dr. Van Natta prefers to do his surgical thigh lifts without the use of drains, and his sutures are all absorbable.

This may come as a surprise, but recovery from a surgical thigh lift is not really painful. You may feel uncomfortable and you will have to limit certain activities such as running and stair climbing for the first month, but before you know it, you’ll be back to normal. And proudly wearing your skinny jeans.

To find out more about a thigh lift with Dr. Bruce Van Natta at Meridian Plastic Surgeons in Indianapolis, contact us today or call (317) 575-0330 to schedule a consultation.