Body Lift or Thigh Lift for Stretch Marks on Calves, Hips, and Thighs?

If you have stretch marks on your hips and thighs, a lower body lift will offer you the best procedure by removing the excess, damaged skin.  A thigh lift only removes thigh skin.  Fraxel will probably make no or minimal change.

BODY LIFT OR THIGH LIFT FOR STRETCH MARKS ON CALVES, HIPS, AND THIGHS


Dear Mary:

  I understand your concern regarding stretch marks of your hips and calves.  It is possible to remove stretch marks with a body lift and/or a thigh lift.  This depends on where the stretch marks are and if the proposed skin excision encompasses the stretch marks that want to be removed. 

If the stretch marks are on the upper outer portion of the hip, typically in the saddle bag region, this usually can be removed with a circumferential or 360-body lift.  If the stretch marks are further down on your hips around the knee area on the outside portion, this may not be able to be removed with a body lift.  Alternatively, if you have scars on your inner thighs, these can be removed with a medial or inner thigh lift. 

Typically, the incision for an inner thigh lift goes from the groin to the inner knee and removed an ellipse or extended football shaped amount of skin and fat from the inner thigh.  If the stretch marks are on the inner leg, therefore a thigh lift may be a good solution.

If you have stretch marks on your calves, these can be eliminated with a calf reduction.  Typically, when I do calf reductions, an incision is made from the medial or inner knee down to the inner ankle.  This removes excess skin and fat from the inner calf region and eliminates stretch marks in those areas.

Thank you,


_________________________
J. Timothy Katzen, MD, FACS

Your history suggests that you would be a candidate for a lower body lift. This procedure removes excess skin in the lower back, flanks and abdomen. It also tightens muscles and improves contour. Stretch marks are removed in the area of the skin resection. Unfortunately, this won't help you with your calf and thigh stretch marks.It's possible that stretching of the skin during this procedure will result in less noticeable stretch marks. The procedure also relocates residual stretch marks to a higher level where they may be less noticeable. Unfortunately, at this time there's no good way to manage stretch marks, short of removal.

Body lift will removed the stretch marks
from the abdomen, waist and back. Stretch
marks located in other areas have to be evaluated to have a direct excision or
other dermatological treatments including fractional lasers.

Stretch marks are particularly troublesome to many of my patients who are new moms. Depending on the severity of the stretch marks and their locations, sometimes a surgical procedure to remove the damaged skin (i.e abdominoplasty or lower body lift) is a more effective choice. For my patients who have scars that are not amenable to surgical removal, I have had very good success with a combination laser treatment with the Pixel Fractionated Erbium Laser and Skin Tightening Laser. Cellulite can also be addressed with non-surgical Accent RFA laser treatments.

Body
lift procedures can address excess skin by removing it and re-draping the areas
for a tighter, firmer look. There are
multiple procedures and products that claim to eliminate Cellulite but
unfortunately they do not achieve great success if there is significant skin
laxity. Stretch marks on the hips can
typically be addressed with a body lift.
Those on the calf are more difficult to address. Cellulite is a
structural problem underneath the skin that is caused by several factors and
there is currently not a gold standard to address cellulite. My recommendation is to schedule a
consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon to devise a plan to address
your cosmetic concerns.

Stretch marks are nothing more than scars in skin that has been stretched beyond its elastic limit.  They are permanent, and nothing short of direct excision will be effective in eliminating them.  With thigh lift and lower body lift, the areas planned for excision will allow removal of stretch marks only within those zones of skin excision.  Lifting or tightening the remaining skin may make the stretch marks not excised look less noticeable.  It is unlikely that the calf stretch marks can be reliably improved.  Stretch marks in the lower abdomen, hips, and thighs, however, can be removed and/or improved.  Best of luck!

If you have realistic
expectations, a body lift would be able to remove some of the damaged, loose
skin you've described in your lower body, but a thigh lift would not be able to
accomplish results in your calves. Please consult with a board-certified
plastic surgeon.

Stretch marks are areas of your skin where you have lost elasticity which resulted in scar formation and loss of pigment. Early treatment with retin-a cream while the marks are still red has shown to be of some help. Deep fractional laser resurfacing, not Fraxel which is usually superficial, may benefit more mature stretch marks. If the pigmentation difference is your major concern I suggest topical bronzers if they match your natural skin tone. Skin excision will remove the stretch marks if they are located in the right areas but of course this procedure will leave you with other scars that hopefully are easier to hide.

Your picture shows stretch marks and loss of elasticity of the skin of the medial knee, posterior thigh, and calf, also with what I suspect is some residual fatty tissue in these areas. Cellulaze uses a fiber optic laser under the skin to melt fat and apply the laser light/heat energy to the deep layer of the skin. This results in fat loss and skin tightening. It will not erase the stretch marks, but may make them less noticeable as the surrounding skin is tightened. A thigh lift is designed to treat a much more significant skin excess than what you have, and would leave you with a visible scar as well the residual stretch marks.