Full leg liposuction is something that many women are interested in learning more about. Many women are unhappy with their leg appearance, especially as beautiful legs are so prominent in the media.
Sometimes, only certain areas of the leg cause dissatisfaction. Some women are worried about the shape of their ankles and calves. Others worry they have too much fat around their knees. Some are only concerned about their inner or outer thighs. However, occasionally, some women dislike the whole appearance of their legs. They want fat removed from the entire length to create a more attractive, slim, and toned look. Those women may benefit from undergoing full leg lipo. However, only a skilled surgeon can tell them whether they truly need such a comprehensive procedure.
Why May I Need Full Leg Liposuction?
Most women won’t need full leg liposuction. Usually, treating just one or two leg areas will suffice to create beautiful contours. For example, many women only need fat removed from their thighs. A 360-degree thigh lipo procedure can resolve their problems and give them the lovely legs they desire. Others only need their calves and ankles treated to give them the curves they want. Some may require a combination of procedures. They may need treatment for the thighs and knees to improve their upper legs. Alternatively, they may require cankle lipo of the ankles and calves to produce the desired result.
Sometimes, women think they need full leg liposuction may need to try to lose some weight first. Often, large legs are due to obesity and a genetic predisposition to accumulating fat in the legs. After shedding some weight, the legs may look slimmer and more toned without the need for surgery.
The exception to this is women who have lipedema. That medical condition causes excess irregular fat build-up in the lower body. Lipedema affects the whole leg and causes a column-like appearance. Liposuction is the best treatment for lipedema, and you need to treat the whole leg to get rid of the diseased fat.
What Does Full Leg Lipo Involve?
Full leg lipo involves removing fat across all of the problem areas of the leg. The surgery involves removing fat from specific areas, including the ankles, calves, knees, and outer and inner thighs.
Patients undergoing full leg lip receive treatment under local anesthetic. Therefore, they have a shorter recovery time, and they return home on the same day as their surgery. They are also alert and awake during the procedure, although they experience no pain.
During the procedure, the surgeon makes small incisions in the areas of the leg they are treating. They pass a narrow cannula into the incisions to break the fat up. They then suction out the excess fat, so they remove it permanently. The surgeon then works to sculpt the fat remaining in the leg into a more attractive shape. The outcome is a slimmer, more toned, and more beautiful leg from thigh to ankle.
The amount of fat that surgeons remove during full leg lipo depends on each individual patient’s needs. Women may require the removal of different amounts of fat from various areas of their legs. Some only require a surgeon to remove a small amount of fat to sculpt perfect contours. Others need the surgeon to remove lots of fat from the whole circumference and length of the leg. That is something commonly seen in patients with lipedema.
Can I Have Full Leg Lipo in a Single Surgery?
There are limits to the amount of fat that a surgeon can remove safely in a single procedure. Surgeons can remove a maximum of around 8lbs of fat at any one time without causing harm to the patients. That means some women can have all their lipo in one treatment, but others can’t. For fat removal of more than 8lbs of fat, patients require two procedures. For women with very large volumes of fat, such as lipedema sufferers, they may need multiple surgeries. For multiple surgeries, patients must wait until their recovery from the first surgery is complete before undergoing another procedure. That may mean waiting several months before having a second procedure.
How Do I Know If I Need Full Leg Lipo?
Liposuction of the whole leg is undoubtedly possible. However, even if you think you require full leg lipo, you may not actually need it. Sometimes, simply treating the calves, knees, or thighs alone can produce an excellent result. The only way to find out which treatment is best for you is to seek advice from a skilled surgeon. Dr. Su at ArtLipo is your number one option. He can assess your needs and let you know which kind of lipo is best for you. Get in touch now to find out whether you require full leg liposuction.
Dr. Thomas Su, is the owner and cosmetic surgeon of Artistic Lipo. He has led our full-time clinic specializing in awake-only liposuction since 2007. Dr. Su began his medical career in internal medicine, practicing that until 2005, when he began to provide a full spectrum of non-invasive cosmetic procedures.
