How to Get Slim Sexy Thighs and Legs with Liposuction in Tampa

Having beautiful shapely legs and thighs is a desire for every woman. Getting those legs, however, can be a frustrating pursuit. Most women have tried dieting, working out, and personal trainers. While these things help slim the body in general and even reduce some of the fat on thighs it does not generally achieve the nice shape that women want. Every day we have patients tell us that they have been trying to exercise away thick thighs and bulging areas for years with no results. Then after surgery with Dr. Su they often tell us they should have done this sooner.

Don’t wait! Liposuction is much gentler than it used to be and in Dr Su’s hands gives much better results. Liposuction although commonly thought of as a major surgery is actually a very simple and safe procedure with quick recovery, especially when performed on the legs and thighs in our Tampa outpatient office. Patients walk in with a body they are not happy with and walk out with a brand new shape in a few hours.

Getting Sexy looking Legs and Thighs is not just about getting slimmer its also about shape and smoothness

When patients come into our office there can be several reasons that they are unhappy. Although there can be several different scenarios for their unhappiness, they all need to have a proper shaping of their thighs and legs, not just a removal to make them smaller. Too many surgeons performing liposuction take the approach of just “removing fat”, they might speak of removing 500cc, or making a 2 inch difference. This is not the approach Dr. Su takes. He is much more concerned about whether your thighs and legs have beautiful flowing shape that tapers from thick to thinner as it progresses downward toward the ankles. Dr. Su is concerned about making you thinner, but of utmost importance is that the areas being treated are smooth and transitioning seamlessly into other areas. He is also concerned about whether the proportions of the upper and lower leg are correct. At Artistic Lipo, we correct so many cases of liposuction done poorly that we know what is being done by the average surgeon out there. We see poor blending with irregularities on thigh areas all the time. We also see incomplete  liposuction where very little change was made where the surgeon left more than 50% of the fat behind.

Categories of Leg, Thigh and Knees Fat Accumulation

Bulges on Inner,Outer, or Frontal Thighs– Fat often accumulates in discreet bulges on different areas of the thighs and stands out from the rest of the upper leg profile. The goal of treating a bulging inner or outer thigh is not to remove “all” the fat. The sculpting in this case should be about smoothing down the bulge so that it fits with the rest of the natural contours. For instance, the outer thigh should be slightly rounded, but blending in a natural curve with the outer buttocks, hip, and waist to complete the “hour glass” figure. The inner thigh on the other hand should have slight curves resulting in a thinning of the leg as it moves downward. When the inner thigh has a strong upper bulge, it is very unsightly and also very uncomfortable because it rubs together. The goal for the inner thigh would be to smooth down the bulge to match with the rest of the the natural slope of the full inner leg.

Generally thick thighs– Some patients that come for consultation have a thick inner thigh that does not have just a bulge at the upper inner thigh, but has significant thickness extending all the way down to below the knees. These are patients which require a sculpting of the full inner thigh top to bottom including the knee. This results in a major thinning of the entire leg. It makes a big difference in patients who have a thinner upper body and thicker legs, by bringing their legs into a matching state. This is a specialty type of liposuction procedure that not many surgeons can do well. The difficutlties when treating such a large area come down to whether it can be done evenly and smoothly without creating a lumpy bumpy surface. Dr. Su is a master sculptor with more experience in doing this type of surgery than just about any other surgeon in the Tampa area.

Bulging Protruding Knees – One of the biggest differences that can be made comes from treating a fairly small area. The inner knee bulge ruins the thinning and tapering shape of the full leg by jutting out midway down the leg and often makes the leg look shorter and lumpy. The inner knee bulge can be significantly reduced in many patients who never realized that this was a cause of their legs not looking their best. The outer knee can sometimes have fat that can be removed also for a thinner knee and leg.It is these types of details that separates Dr. Su from many other surgeons who don’t take the time to look at the overall picture.

What Causes Bulging Thighs and Legs and Why Exercise doesn’t work

Everyone gains and stores fat in different ways. What determines whether someone has fat bulges on their legs and thighs, otherwise known as saddle bags, is their genetics. A woman’s genes which are passed down by her parents often cause the same bulges in the same areas as her mother or grandmother. These bulges are often the ones to gain fat the most and hold on to it in the most stubborn way.

Working out burns fat from the entire body usually in a spread out fashion. Losing 10 pounds by running does not necessarily get rid of 10 pounds in the legs which do most of that work. However, there may only be a few pounds from the legs. Fat bulges on the thighs in this case may not even change at all or only slightly.  Physiologists have proven that fat cannot be targeted by exercise, however, that is what many people would still try to believe. Therefore if you only have specific pockets of fat that need to be shaped, they will rarely disappear through exercise alone.

Liposuction Surgery is perfect for Shaping the Legs and getting rid of bulges

Compared to how the body burns fat in a even spread out distribution, liposuction of the thigh bulges and knees is a procedure that literally scrapes and suctions the fat away from very specific areas. Just as a sculptor using a chisel or file works away the wood or stone he is sculpting, a liposuction surgeon does the same with fat which is soft but still has its own form. A good liposuction surgeon can sculpt fat and do it smoothly and blend it seamlessly. A poor liposuction surgeon will leave a lumpy surface or one that is misshapen and unnatural appearing. Dr. Su is an artist that has the skill to perform your thigh liposuction correctly and beautifully the first time.

How is Thigh Liposuction done?

Most people are familiar with liposuction with a person asleep, or under general anesthesia. They may have even seen it being done on television shows such as Nip Tuck which looks somewhat brutal. What most people don’t realize is that liposuction has changed significantly in the past decade. Where most surgeons have traditionally done liposuction asleep, almost half the cases today are being done awake in a much gentler manner which has patients recover quickly with almost no downtime.

Awake Liposuction is known as Tumescent Liposuction – Doing liposuction awake requires the use of the local anesthetic lidocaine. This is a similar anesthetic to Novacaine which is commonly used by dentists for teeth extractions. During the procedure all the areas are infused with a dilute solution of lidocaine in saline (salt water). This provides a very good numbing for the procedure but is a step that patients often describe as strange and stingy. This anesthesia lasts for hours even after the thigh procedure which also gives more comfort after the procedure compared to someone who wakes up from general anesthesia only to feel severe soreness.

Benefits of tumescent lipovslipo with general anesthesia – The main benefit of tumescent lipo is much more safety because of the avoidance of general anesthesia which has risks. A quicker recovery is also the norm because of smaller instruments being used when a patient is awake. This means less bruising and soreness.
Other significant benefits of awake liposuction are the potential for better artistic outcomes. Having a patient awake allows for better patient positioning and the ability to stand patients to check the sculpting results. This is explained further below.

Does Dr. Su use Smart Lipo, VASER, or Aqua Lipo?

Many patients have heard that lasers, ultrasonic energy and other devices can be used in liposuction.  These devices pretreat fat without actually removing anything. The fat still has to be removed with a suction cannula no matter which of these technologies is used. Although these devices can make the fat softer in some cases, and easier for a surgeon to remove, they do not result in a better cosmetic outcome. These devices are greatly oversold for their benefits by the companies that make them and sell the hype to the public. In reality, they do not make a mediocre surgeon or skilled surgeon any better. Dr. Su has owned and used all three of these devices for several years toward the beginning of his practice and achieves better results now using a plain suction cannula alone. His patients have better results and healing because of the skills Dr. Su brings to the procedure, not because of a overhyped technology.

Dr. Su uses the Interactive Lipo Method to do Thigh Liposuction

Dr. Su has been the innovator of a number of liposuction advances. His revolutionary Interactive Lipo method of doing liposuction is a version of awake tumescent liposuction. Compared to regular tumescent liposuction where patients are awake but just lying there, Dr. Su has his patients holding their bodies in tensed states in different positions. This creates a situation more like a normal sculptor has who has a firm stable object to work on, not one that is mobile and wobbling around. This Interactive Method also gives Dr. Su the ability to have much better feel of the fat layer because there is a firm muscle below it, not a soft surface. Having great control and feel while using Interactive Lipo is a huge advantage to sculpting completely and smoothly. Patients have often stated, doing liposuction is almost like a boot camp or pilates. The great part of this method, unlike others, is that when the surgery is done, patients are standing up to check their results and can see their new shape right there in the mirror.  This is where Dr. Su can also check his work and lay the patient back down to correct it if needed. Other doctors who do awake liposuction could do this easily also, but very few are as perfectionistic when it comes to liposuction as an art.

Before and After Photos of Leg/Thigh/Knees Liposuction

Before choosing a liposuction surgeon to do your thighs or knees, you should look at their work. It is the best way to tell whether a surgeon is good or cares much about their results. It is surprising to see some photo galleries with very few examples, or ones that have poor photos where it is hard to discern what has been done.  Dr. Su takes pride in every patient that he treats and shows clear photos with multiple angles for you to be able to appreciate the smoothness, completeness, and blending that he creates in his patients. Please visit our Thigh, Leg, and Knee gallery to see for yourself.

Are you a good candidate for Thigh Liposuction?

If you have noticed a bulge on the inner or outer aspect of your legs or knees then liposuction will likely be able to help you. A good candidate for liposuction, however, has to be healthy with only minimal medical problems. Having a realistic expectation for the outcome is also important for a patient to be satisfied with their results. Dr. Su will give you a very thorough and clear picture of the new shape he can create. He will in most cases draw the new outline of your body on photographs we will take. He will also describe any negative effects such as skin wrinkles or creases that might be expected if you have looser skin. We always try to be more on the conservative side when educating patients on what to expect.

How long is recovery?

Using tumescent liposuction provides for quicker healing. Patients can be back on their feet and moving about the same day. There is no real bedrest. Doing activities as tolerated is the general rule of thumb. However, we advise most patients having a moderate to large amount of liposuction done to take a couple of days off work just in case their discomfort is more severe. In thighs and knees, there will be light bruising most cases. There will be swelling that comes on after the surgery which will take a few months to resolve completely. Sometimes a mild bumpiness can be seen when the swelling is at its worse. A garment will also be worn for the first 2 weeks.

Thigh and Leg Liposuction vs. Thigh Lift

Some patients ask if doing liposuction will lift their thighs and tighten the skin. In most cases or liposuction looseness can become worse. However, Dr. Su performs liposuction in a way not done by most surgeons that can actually leave the skin tighter or firmer appearing.  A personal consultation is the only way that Dr. Su can evaluate the elastic condition of your skin.

For patients with very loose skin on their thighs a true thigh lift may be needed to get the best tight skin results. This is a surgery where skin is actually cut away and then pulled up and reattached. This type of surgery is fairly common in patients after they have had massive weight loss after a gastric stapling or lap band procedure. We do not do thigh lifts at Artistic Lipo, but can refer you to a good plastic surgeon who does them.

Do non surgical alternatives work on the thigh and leg?

Most non-surgical devices for body shaping produce very minimal results compared to what liposuction can do. Average liposuction surgeons remove about 50-60% of the fat layer, and Dr. Su being more expert often removes 80-90% of this fat layer. The non-surgical devices on average only remove 20%, that is equivalent to less than a ¼ inch removal where there is a one inch fat layer. That would be hard to see. Unless you are someone who only wants a very small amount of fat removed, you are better off not doing these procedures.

Cost of Thigh and Leg Liposuction

Cost of thigh, leg, knees liposuction varies significantly depending on whom you go to. Keep in mind that the quality of the results also varies tremendously and often times is reflected in the price. Quality liposuction requires time and patience, in addition to great skill. Too many surgeons try to rush through procedures especially if they are doing a case with a patient under general anesthesia. A complete removal of fat from the thighs of 80-90% which Dr. Su does takes more time and skill than the average 50% removal. Taking all this into consideration the cost of Dr. Su’s procedures may be above the average, however, is still the best value if you want the best work done correctly the first time. The cost of procedures for small areas like the knees can vary as can medium areas on the thighs and large areas like full thighs top to bottom including the knee vary greatly.

Complications in Leg Liposuction

Using tumescent awake liposuction compared to general anesthesia reduces complications significantly. There is very little bleeding, and very rare infections. Blood clots which are a risk for all patients being put under general anesthesia are almost unheard of in awake liposuction because there is no paralyzation of the limbs. The most common complication Dr. Su comes across are lumpy or irregular sculpting that he has to fix from other doctors. The thighs are an area that is greatly affected by gravity where bulges are flat when a patient lies down. Unless a doctor can check their work periodically with a patient standing as in the Interactive Lipo method, then irregularities can be commonplace.

Weight Loss and Exercise benefits Leg Liposuction

Almost all patients in Dr. Su’s office could benefit from some exercise and weight loss. Either because of the toning or general fat loss, the thighs and legs will only look better. We encourage our overweight patients to incorporate a weight management routine to maintain and improve their results.

Dr. Lara’s Weight Loss and Hormone Replacement Practice is a great place to continue your beautification and rejuvenation process. He is the most reputable physician performing these services with the most experience in the Tampa Bay area.  (click for his website)

Other Liposuction Surgeries we Perform in Tampa

• Abdomen-Belly-Stomach-Tummy Liposuction
• Waist-Flank-Back-Bra Bulge Liposuction
• Arm-Lift-Liposuction
• Celebrity Arm Liposuction
• Chin-Neck-Jowl Liposuction
• Face Lift Liposuction
• Tummy Tuck Lipo
• Skin Tightening Lipo
• Butt Lift Liposuction

Fly in for Expert Thigh and Knees Liposuction

We are used to having patients fly in from different states and countries for liposuction with Dr. Su. Tampa is an ideal location for cosmetic surgery tourism. We have great world class attractions including Disney World, Universal Studios, as well the most beautiful beaches. We can help you with arrangements for hotels, transportation, and nursing help when you come in for liposuction on your thighs or other body areas.

Schedule a consultation

Call today to arrange a consultation. If you are out of town we will arrange for a phone or Skype consult. We will need photos of your legs and thigh areas so that Dr Su can discuss a plan.