Will a 360 Degree Circumfrontial Body Lift Address the Extra Skin on my Inner Thighs?

The simple answer to this question is no. Simply because the incision for the body lift is made around your waistline like that of a belt. It would be impossible to reach your inner thighs with this incision. A separate procedure is needed to adress excess skin in the inner thighs. It sounds like a simple groin incision is necessary to accomplish your goals. Personally, I tend to minimize the need for extensive scarring in all my procedures. This includes not performing the vertical thigh lift if at all possible. Lifting breasts without the need of a vertical scar is also a passion of mine.

Kind regards,

Dr. H

It's not unusual for massive weight loss patients to develop loose skin. Redundant saggy skin can affect the abdomen, back, arms, inner thigh and outer thigh. When this situation arises, a multitude of surgical procedures are available to treat this loose skin.The lower body lift can remove excess back and abdominal skin. It simultaneously lifts the buttocks and lateral thighs. It's associated with excellent clinical results and high levels of patient satisfaction. Unfortunately, this procedure would have very little impact upon the medial thighs.Correction of this problem would most likely require a medial thigh lift. Several medial thigh lift options are available to treat this problem. The choice will depend upon the patients anatomic findings and aesthetic goalsIf you're concerned about massive weight loss surgery, it's important to consult a board certified plastic surgeon with experience in this area. This surgeon should be able to formulate a treatment plan that addresses your anatomic findings and achieves your aesthetic goals..

Dear Journey to Health:
 
The 360 body lift will eliminate excess skin and fat of the pubic region, abdomen, lateral hips, lateral legs, and buttocks.  It does not significantly lift or remove excess skin on the inner thighs. 
The body lift is designed to address the outer or lateral thighs and does a significant amount of lifting and reduction in that area.  There may be a subtle or very minor amount of lifting on the inner thighs from the body lift as it approaches the groin but not significantly. 
There are several different types of thigh lifts.  There is a crescent thigh lift where an incision is made on the inner portion of the leg and follows the underwear line on the inner portion of the leg.  This goes from the front of the leg and extends back onto the buttocks.  A crescent area of skin is removed from the upper inner thigh and is good for mild defects. 
 
For more significant and more common medial thigh defects after weight loss, an incision typically is made from the groin down the inner leg.  If the deformity is mild, an incision is made halfway down the thigh.  If the deformity is more severe and there is excess skin and fat around the knee, the incision is carried down to the knee.  If the excess skin and fat is more severe, the incision is carried down to the ankle.  
Thank you,
J. Timothy Katzen, MD, FACS

In a nut shell, a lower body lift will only lift the outer thigh and does not provide much improvement of the inner thigh.

In terms of choices, these are the available thigh lift procedures in our practice.

1) Vertical thighplasty with simultaneous liposuction.  This procedure will remove the excess inner thigh skin through an incision that goes from the pubic area to the inner knee. This will result in reduction of your though horizontally.  This is not a lift.

2) Spiral thigh lift- This procedure is a modified inner thigh lift.  The incision is placed under the buttock crease and then runs through the groin crease.  Through this one spiral incision, the back of the thigh, the inner thigh, and the thigh front are lifted.  This procedure is a more comprehensive lift than the inner thigh lift only.

3) Outer thigh lift.  This lifts the outer aspect of the thigh.  It can be done as an extension of the Spiral thigh lift or with a lower body lift.  Combined with the Spiral thigh lift, it will give you a circumferential thigh lift correction.

 

From your description, it sounds as if you will benefit from a Spiral thigh lift. To learn more, please visit my thigh lift pages and look at our gallery.

There are two thigh lift procedures – a lateral thigh lift
and a medial thigh lift.  A lateral thigh
lift addresses the outer thighs and is typically included with a belt lipectomy
or lower body lift.  A medial thigh lift
addresses the excess skin of the inner thighs and is not typically included
with a body lift.  The circumferential incision allows access to
the abdomen, flanks, buttocks, and outer thighs which is why those procedures
are typically grouped together.  The 360
incision does not provide access to the inner thighs however so an additional
incision would be needed down the inside of each thigh to remove excess tissue
and tighten the skin in that area.  In my
experience, body lift patients have better outcomes when the lateral thighs are
done in conjunction with the buttock lift.  When the outer thighs are contoured there can be an effect on the
buttocks and the shape of the buttocks can be affected when the outer thighs
are lifted.  Without a physical
examination it is difficult to make a suggestion as to which body contouring
procedure would give you the outcome you desire.  If you haven’t chosen a surgeon yet, be sure
to research for only board certified plastic surgeons.  If you have chosen a surgeon make sure that
he or she is a board certified plastic surgeon.Be well and good
luck!@norrisplastic