Thigh Lift Surgery

Some people lose tone in their thigh regions particularly after losing weight. The look of this can be significantly improved by thigh lift surgery. Thigh lift surgery is a pulling up of the tissue of your inner and outer thigh regions. The potential results can be simulated by pulling up the skin of your inner and outer thigh with your hands (rather like pulling on a pair of stockings).

Considering Thigh Lift Surgery?

During your consultation, your surgeon will discuss the areas that particularly concern you and show you before and after pictures of patients they have treated with similar conditions. Your surgeon will explain the nature of the operation, possible complications, recovery period and the likely nature of your surgery. Once you and your surgeon have fully discussed the procedure, you can schedule a time for surgery as appropriate.

How will it impact your life?

Thigh lifts are very successful procedures aimed at elevating and tightening the tissue of your thigh, which you may have got from losing weight or just from gravity over the years. Some people just get descent of the thigh tissue, as it may run in the family. After the surgery, you are likely to find your confidence restored.

Is Thigh Lift Surgery right for you?

Your surgeon will mark which areas they plan to treat and discuss the pros and cons and likely recovery time following surgery. Surgery is normally performed under general anaesthetic and absorbable sutures used to close all the incisions. You may have a drain inserted in the wound to remove any excess fluid. This is normally removed 1-2 days following surgery. The areas most commonly treated with a Thigh lift are the Medial and Lateral thigh.

Lateral Thigh Lift

  • The tissue on the outer aspect of your thigh is elevated
  • You can mimic removal of this tissue by squeezing together the skin on your lateral thigh to elevate this tissue
  • This procedure can be combined with a tummy tuck procedure or body lift procedure to treat the skin at the front of your tummy

Medial Thigh Lift

  • The incision is made towards the top of the crease in your inner thigh area and this skin is elevated
  • In an ideal situation, the scar is located in the natural crease of the region and will be well concealed

Thigh lift surgery is relatively specialised and it is important to consult a surgeon who concentrates in this field. Your surgeon should give you a realistic expectation of what is involved in the surgery and the recovery period.

 After your surgery and beyond…

After surgery, you will have dressings placed on the incisions and absorbable sutures are used to close the incisions. Drainage may be used to remove any excess fluid within 1-2 days of surgery. You will normally be fitted with a support garment following surgery to gently compress the area as thigh lift surgery is often combined with liposuction. We advise you to gently mobilise in the first week following surgery. We will make you a follow up appointment 1 week following surgery to assess the area and check that all is healing well. We will then normally see you 6 weeks following the operation at which point your post-operative photographs will be taken. It is important to realise that there will be significant swelling in the region at this stage. Swelling may take 2-3 months to settle down.

Thigh lift surgery is successful at tightening up the skin in your inner and outer thigh regions. However, it is important to fully understand the likely outcome and results of surgery prior to proceeding, you will get this information from full and frank discussion with your consultant. Following surgery, there may be some further loosening of the skin tissue which is inevitable with gravity changes. It is advisable not to put on excessive weight following the treatment as this will cause skin stretching and, if you do lose the weight, the excess skin in your thigh area may return.

The next step

We always encourage people to do as much research as they can when considering cosmetic surgery, so for more information on thigh lift surgery: