Thigh lift - what made you decide to do it, what does insurance require, how was your recovery

Hi all, 
I'm having problems with the rolls of skin on my inner thighs. Right now I have a rash of pimples in the creases. I've been doing all I can to prevent fungal infections. 

I'm considering a thigh lift. I meet with my plastic surgeon in a couple of weeks to have a keratosis removed from my groin area - it's in a crease that didn't exist before I had my panniculectomy. Since the panniculectomy, my legs are have all kinds of changes I didn't have with all of the rolls of fat holding everything down. Now things move and sweat differently because all of the skin has been pulled different ways to cover the original panniculectomy, the revision, and the revision of the revision to remove necrotic fat and a hematoma.

With the panniculectomy, which was covered by my insurance because of fungal infections and skin breakdown, I imagine there are similar requirements for insurance to cover a thigh lift. What are your experiences?

What procedure did you have? How was your surgery and recovery experiences?

I work 3 days per week and I sit then stand for a moment every 7 minutes or so, I do medical screenings so I have to get up and put blood pressure cuffs on people over and over. I'm sure recovery requires compression garments.

Can you sit or must you lie down?

What are the post-surgical bandages and garments like?

What was harder than you thought it would be?

What did you worry about most?

What was the best and worst advice you were given?

I am from Canada so self pay for thighs. After TT thighs stood out too. Thigh lifts have the highest rate of complications and wound healing issues. I did it in 2 or 3 steps. First I did a spiral lift which started just behing thigh along groin, met up with tt incion and extended almost to hip. I had a wound dehision in groin which caused a 4 day hospital stay and second surgery then cellulitis with another 4 days.  After everything healed I found still had inner thigh problems so had thigh lipo and midial lift.

You need to make sure you give yourself time to heal. Walking is a challenge and so is sitting post op, there is pain too. My surgeon does not use compression garments. The intial post op weeks were tough.

Thanks for the information. It sounds like working really won't be an option with the sit-to-stand I do over and over.
I have MS, so I have a really nifty powered wheelchair to get around because I was falling and getting too tired to go places. It goes up to 6mph and lifts so I'm at my normal eye level when I need to be (shopping for things on shelves, etc)
So technically, I could give up walking all together if need be. That makes for weird healing though too, I'm sure. 

I don't know anyone who has had this done, so your information helps a lot.

Your ps can give you a better idea re recovery time. I found sitting the hardest as it pulls on suture lines. Incision to groins a very sensitive area. You want to plan for at least 3 weeks recovery. Good luck

I had a thigh lift this summer. Incision up inside of thigh from knee, through the groin and around the back top of my thigh. As the other poster said, highest rate of complications- because you can't not use them. That being said not major, more like small suture line separations. My surgeon says it is the hardest of the surgeries. My major complication, so I can't give you an answer about length of normal recovery- is I fell one week after surgery and busted my butt/suture line open. Ended up in ER and couldn't even sit for another 5 weeks.... long story...I am 10 weeks out and just stopped putting bandages on like 2 days ago, and am still wearing compression. It has been a long road. I am not saying in any way that is normal...

I was really glad I had strong arms, because I needed them to move my body and position myself for getting up and things.

I have compression garment that are leggings to the ankle and go up to my bust line practically. Now that I am further out, I am also wearing a pair of regular compression leggings, as well as thigh high surgical support stockings. I would wear the compression during the day and then wrap my legs in ace bandages at night. Stopped the night time aces several weeks ago. Again my time in compression was extended because of my setbacks. Normally would have been 4 weeks 24hrs a day and then 2 weeks more in the daytime.

I was glad I had it in the summer, because I could wear slip on sandals would never have been able to bend down and put on/tie my own shoes.

I wore long line/boy short soft underwear under the garment as I wanted something softer against my skin. Cut holes in some of them to accommodate the trap door the garment has for bathroom use. :) the compression garment is like fort knox to get out of quickly, so plan accordingly.

right after surgery, no sitting per se...more like semi-reclining. Don't want to pull on the suture line.

The leg/side of my body not effected by the fall was doing great at 5-6 weeks out... but like I said it has been a long, not normal recovery.  Don't regret getting it done, I will get past this and it will be fine. Bumps in the road of life.

Thanks much for your information. I don't know anyone who has had this done, so I wasn't sure where to start with asking questions.
My situation is inner thigh only, so it sounds like you had something similar.

Thanks for your tips. I live in Minnesota and to wet and cold for several months. I have a powered wheelchair (I don't need it all the time) that I could get around with and not need to worry about footwear so much, or falling (that's why I have a wheelchair - kept falling...turns out I have MS).

My arms are not that strong.

It sound like recovery would be too tough for me right now and certainly not doable with work. I've got to keep working to keep my medical assistance which pays for in-home care. If I were to stop working for this surgery, then I wouldn't have nursing available to help during recovery. Very lose-lose. I'll deal with the skin breakdown if it becomes a problem.

Thanks for the details. I was trying to imagine this surgery in my head, but both posts have been very helpful.

Honestly, it sounds kind of horrible. 

I hope your complications are minimal and everything heals up well. At least long compression garments are helpful in the winter.

Didn't want to discourage you. I am sure I would have felt pretty decent by 3 weeks out, not completely recovered of course, but decent if I didn"t have the fall.