Long Incision Thigh Lift -- Why is it so bad?

Hi All,

I'm scheduled for a long incision (inner thigh) thigh lift and lipo on Dec. 14.  Two years ago I had LBL + spiral thigh lift (around groin and butt crease) + butt augmentation + breast implant revision all together and the recovery was tough. I'm hoping since I'm having less work done, this one will be easier, but I'm scared because I repeatedly read/hear that the long incision thigh lift is the toughest surgery of them all. 

For those who have had it, along with the LBL and other surgeries, can you please tell me what makes the thigh lift worse?  Is it swelling, pain, inability to move, wound complications?

Thanks very much for your input!

 

 Well I haven't had one, but I have to say that if you can do all that at once, I don't think there's any way a single inner thigh lift could be worse than those put together. You are a BARBARIAN!! I was told by a plastics nurse that it's sore because there's an incision right in your groin crease which is what causes most of the pain. I've also seen users here who had lots of swelling to deal with. If you've already had the groin crease thigh lift I think you'll probably kind of already know what kind of discomfort to expect, except you'll be sore to that extent lower down too. But hopefully you'll hear from some people here who have actually had one! 

I had everything done except my breasts, and my worst surgery was the inner thigh lift incision from groin to knee.

when u sit especially on the toilet and I had a raised toilet seat your incision pulls.
while u r standing grab hold of the loose flabby skin that u have now hold onto it and sit on the toilet and u will see what i mean. it was the worst surgery  but I am so glad I had it done nd I would have done it anyway.
when I had it done my wound dihissed which means the incision split, it was fine for the first 10 days and my PS said it was looking great and I really had no restrictions, so i guess i did to much and I was still wearing my compression garments and this 1 day I was painting and I felt wet on my leg and my wound had opened about an inch it was disgusting I went in and he dressed the wound now i have a bad scar but it is between my legs near the groin area,, he wanted to fix it but  I said only you,my husband and GYN will see this leave it alone. it was all so worth it,, it is complications like this that made me glad that my PS was 15 minutes away, I went to see  him 2x awee****il it all closed up.
the best thing is when I stand my thighs dont touch and I ove that

good Luck Susan

 Okay but can I just say that it is encouraging to hear that you actually felt well enough to paint at 10 days out!!!

Thanks for your input, Susan.  The sitting makes sense, and unfortunately, we do need to sit on occasion! Continually hearing that this is the worst of all surgeries definitely doesn't make me look forward to having it done in two weeks, but it's also good to know that the outcome is worth the difficult recovery. 

Michelle

One more question for you Susan, did you have a lot of swelling in your legs, and how long did it last for?

 No, I really didt have to much swelling
naturally the more standing u do the more
swelling u will have, I don't mean to scare u, but
u asked, just remember IT IS WORTH IT,

N u may be perfectly fine

Good luck Susan

My incision goes about 3/4 of the way to my knee.   The first four days or so going to the bathroom was a challenge - hope this isn't TMI - if I was just going to urinate I pretty much just bent my knees as little as possible and went.   I always take all the pain medication i'm given and make sure I start to take stool softeners the day of the surgery.  Everyone is different but for me the recovery from the arm lift was the most difficult and only because it took months for the nerves to heal and even though it was two years ago my incision are still sensitive to certain fabrics - but I would do it again in a minute.

 I have only have two experices with lipo and both were small - one was to even out one arm with the other and I just have fat removed from my stomach and put in my face.    From my experience the lipo will be more painful to recover from than the lift.

Good luck.

 Hi!  I'm doing a similar surgery to your first surgery on December 12th and then following the first surgery up, just like you are doing, with the thigh lift.

I grilled my surgeon on this exact topic and here's what he said: "it's annoying as all hell.". Apparently it's not so much the incision, as WHERE the incision is located.  He won't perform them in summer - because of the irritating nature of heat paired with the immobility and sheer annoyance of the wound healing period.

I was told to plan on 3 week minimum recovery time, most of that is because you Can't walk without looking pretty strange.  I was also told that I'll have to be ultra diligent with the creases of your legs and cleanliness because everything in this area touches something else.

Hope that helps!

Xo Alicia

While my thigh and arms were by FAR the worst of my 2 rounds...I THINK it had MORE to do with my having done my ARMS and my THIGHS at the same time.  Everytime I moved or reached or whatever it was pulling up or down.  I don't remember any discomfort sitting on my toilet seat riser, which I HIGHLY recommend as you don't want to have to come ALL the way down when sitting.

I think had I just done the thighs and been able to support myself with my arms it would have been much easier.

MS Shell