Ditch Your Sarong and Reveal Smooth, Firm, Shapely Thighs For Summer

Do you dislike your thighs and dread the thought of exposing them on the beach? You’re not alone; many women are self conscious about their thighs.

This lack of body confidence often arises as we age, have children and gain weight around our middles and bottoms, that becomes much harder to shift.

If you do succeed in losing weight, you can often be left with loose, sagging skin or stubborn cellulite, which give the thighs a lumpy appearance. It’s no wonder a trip to the beach has so many women reaching for a sarong.

If you want to wear a swimming costume with confidence, you could consider having a thigh lift – a cosmetic procedure to remove excess fat and skin and improve the contours of the thighs.

What is a thigh lift and how is it performed?

A thigh lift (also called a crural lift) literally involves lifting the loose, sagging skin on the upper and outer thigh upwards towards the groin. Once pulled up, excess skin and tissue is removed and deep support sutures are placed in the underlying tissues to help create a tight and toned thigh.

The incisions, which are made in the folds of the groin, are then sealed with skin sutures. The thigh lift procedure is often carried out in conjunction with liposuction, in order to remove larger amounts of fat and further shape and contour the thighs.

What kind of scars should you expect from a thigh lift?

The scars from a thigh lift vary based on the areas to be treated and the degree of correction. They are usually hidden in the groin crease, but can sometimes extend along the inner thigh.

Improving the contours of the outer thigh may require an incision extending from the groin around the hip.

However, all scars are - as much as possible - placed so that they will be covered by underwear, swimsuits and shorts. At first, scars will be red but, over time, should flatten, fade and become less noticeable. Skin tone, elasticity and colour will play a role in the final result.

How long is the recovery from a thigh lift?

It’s possible to have a thigh lift performed on an out patient basis, under twilight sedation; this means you will not be fully put to sleep. You will remain awake, but will feel very relaxed and will not feel any pain.

The benefit of this is you can ‘wake up’ quicker after the operation, avoid potential nausea and go home sooner. However, should you prefer full anesthesia that can be arranged.

After your surgery, you will wear compression garments for a week and you will be unable to bathe or shower during this time.  You will be prescribed painkillers to control pain during the first few days.

It’s important to rest as much as possible for the first week, avoid too much movement, and move carefully when you do. This will help keep swelling down and allow the incisions to heal – because of the weight of gravity, wounds in the thigh area can take longer to heal.

During the second week, you will feel a little more energised and have less pain, however it is vital to still take it easy and move with care. We advise that patients should book at least two weeks off work if they have a desk job and up to a month if they have a physical job.

After two to three weeks it is possible to return to light activities, but activity should be increased slowly being mindful not to allow yourself to become swollen. After six weeks you should feel fully recovered, although it will take 6-12 months for everything to fully heal internally and for you to see the final result.

How much does a thigh lift cost?

Thigh lift surgery here at Ocean Clinic Marbella, usually costs between €4,000 to €4,500. For an exact quote, contact us for a free consultation at which you can meet with a surgeon and discuss your goals.

Would you like more youthful-looking, better-proportioned thighs? Take a look at our before and after thigh lift gallery to see what we could do for you.

Pregnancy After Cosmetic Surgery – What You Need To Know

For women considering a cosmetic procedure such as a breast augmentation or abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), the effects of any future pregnancy are often a concern. 

Will it interfere with the ability to become pregnant, carry a child or breastfeed? Will a pregnancy after cosmetic surgery undo the surgeon’s work or lead to unwanted aesthetic results?

To help you decide whether now is the right time for your cosmetic procedure, or whether you’d be best to wait until after completing your family, we list the key points to consider:

Pregnancy After Breast Enlargement

Many women in their 20s wish to have breast implants, often before they’ve met a long term partner or thought about starting a family. Although it may seem a little way off, you’ll probably still want to know what happens when/if you do become pregnant.

The good news is that a breast enlargement, if carefully carried out, should not affect your ability to breastfeed. It is important to discuss with your surgeon your plans for breastfeeding in the future, so he or she can advise on the implantation method that will have the least impact on the milk ducts – this will influence the incision site and the placement of the implants on the chest (under or above the muscle).

Because nipple sensitivity can take 6-18 months to return after a breast enlargement, it is advisable to wait a year or two after surgery before becoming pregnant. This will also enable scars and scar tissue time to fully heal.

Another concern is the affect pregnancy will have on the appearance of the breast implants, and this is something that varies widely from woman to woman.

During pregnancy the breast becomes engorged with milk, which often stretches the skin. When a woman’s milk dries up (whether she chooses to breastfeed or not) the gland shrinks and sometimes breasts will have less volume than they did pre-pregnancy.

This decrease in volume, combined with slacker skin can result in sagging for some women. While the breast implant stays in position, the breast may sag down off of the implant. If this happens, further surgery will be needed to correct the issue.

However, many women experience no marked change to the appearance of their breast implants after pregnancy and some even report to being happier with the appearance, since the stretching of the tissue can leave them looking more natural.

Pregnancy After Breast Reduction

Pregnancy can change your breasts in completely unpredictable ways – regardless of whether you breastfeed or not. It is not possible to say with certainty what would happen to the results of a breast reduction post-pregnancy.

There is a chance breasts will be increased in size after pregnancy and also experience some sagging. However, changes can be minimised by controlling weight gain during pregnancy (following the advice of your doctor) and by always wearing a supportive bra.

If you are planning on becoming pregnant in the imminent future, it is certainly advisable to wait before having breast reduction surgery to prevent the possibility of having to undergo a revision.

If you do decide to go ahead, let your surgeon know you may wish to breastfeed so he or she can tailor the surgery to increase your chances of being able to do so.

Pregnancy After Breast Uplift

Pregnancy causes the breasts to temporarily swell – the extent to which your breasts increase in size and the speed at which they do so will affect the laxity of your skin once milk production has ceased and the breasts deflate.

In all likelihood your breasts will experience some changes and sagging is a risk. These issues can be corrected with a second breast lift (sometimes combined with implants), but if you are planning on becoming pregnant within a couple of years, it’s probably best to wait.

Most breast lift techniques preserve the ducts and glands meaning breastfeeding should still be possible, but always advise your surgeon of your plans.

Pregnancy After Tummy Tuck

Patients considering a tummy tuck often wish to know if it will impair their ability to become pregnant, carry a baby or give birth in the future. The answer to all of these questions is no, there is no danger to the baby and you will have a normal pregnancy. However, it is advisable to wait until you are fully healed; around 4-6 months after.

In terms of the aesthetic effects, pregnancy will stretch out the skin and muscle of your abdomen and you may experience some recurrent laxity.

Some women who have had tummy tucks are perfectly happy with their appearance post-pregnancy. If you are not, corrective surgery can be performed, which may well be shorter and less complex than your original operation.

Your decision to have a tummy tuck should be based on how soon you expect to become pregnant. If it won’t be for another 5+ years, then enjoying the aesthetic improvement now may well be worth it. On the other hand, if it’s likely to be in the next couple of years it makes sense to wait.

Still have questions surrounding pregnancy and cosmetic surgery? Drop Ocean Clinic Marbella a line via our Contact Page or on Facebook.

Lives Transformed by Ocean Clinic Marbella’s Reconstructive Surgery Mission to Kenya

Nearly 40 people living with disfigurements in a poor area of Kenya have had their lives transformed thanks to a reconstructive surgery mission, led by Dr. Kai Kaye, Head Surgeon at Ocean Clinic Marbella.

Dr. Kaye teamed up with his friend and colleague, Dr. Stasch, of Nairobi’s Valentis Clinic on the nine-day charitable campaign. Working in collaboration with the Kenyan Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (KSPRAS), they put together an eight-person surgical team, including an anaesthetist and two Plastic Surgery Residents from Nairobi and three nurses from Ocean Clinic Marbella.

The team travelled to Lamu, a rural archipelago on the northeastern coast of Kenya, which has few medical facilities and high levels of poverty. Here, they met with more than 100 men, women and children suffering with disfigurements such as congenital malformations, tumours, burns, scars and other deformities.

“Patients were presenting with facial deformities, tumours covering the whole body, chronic wounds and ulcers, umbilical and scrotal hernias and chronic disfigurative diseases like M. Recklinghausen,” says Dr. Kaye.

“We spent the first day meeting with them and selecting the patients with the most need, before getting straight to work and beginning to operate.”

Thanks to an agreement with the government, the team was able to use the facilities of the Lamu District Hospital to perform the operations. They were able to successfully operate on 39 patients. 

“All surgeries went as planned without major complications,” says Dr. Kaye. “The aftercare will now be taken over by the team at Anidan Paediatric Hospital.

“We are really delighted with the number of people we got to treat and by the difference these surgeries will make to their lives. For some people it will be the difference between being able to work or not and therefore provide for their families, for others it’s about social inclusion and being able to live a normal life.”

The charity camp, which was also organised in collaboration with Spanish NGO Foundation Pablo Horstman, was entirely funded by donations. Marbella companies and individuals, as well as patients of Ocean Clinic helped to raise €4000 Euros to support the mission.

The money was used to purchase and transport 300 kilos of materials and equipment, ensuring the team could operate on as many patients as possible.

Meanwhile, the surgical team gave up their time for free and paid for their own flights and accommodation. 

The trip to Kenya follows a similar campaign to Peru that Dr. Kaye and his colleagues undertook in 2013, when they operated on 60 patients.

“Seeing them smile and shine with confidence makes our work incredibly rewarding,” he says. “The Lamu experience this year has strengthened our plans to convert it into an annual mission organised in collaboration with  Foundation Pablo Horstman and supported by the generous people of Marbella.”