Patients are often surprised to discover just how many areas of the body we can treat with liposuction—including the knees. Many people have unwanted fat deposits around their knees, and liposuction can help. The procedure can remove fat from almost anywhere but typically targets the inner knee.
Often performed along with thigh liposuction, knee liposuction can remove fat deposits only. It’s important to note that it can’t remove the excess skin often left around the knees after large amounts of weight loss, nor can it fix cellulite in the area. If you have unwanted fat around your knees, however, liposuction is the best and often the only way to eliminate it since there are no specific exercises to target knee fat.
Does Liposuction Work on the Knees?
Liposuction absolutely works on the knees. The procedure removes fat cells from the inner knee in the same way that it does elsewhere on the body. There is nothing special about your knees that would render liposuction ineffective or make it work differently there. As always, the procedure won’t remove enough fat to cause weight loss, but it does remove excess fat, sculpting and recontouring the area along the way.
As is always the case, the best candidates for a liposuction procedure are those who are close to their goal weight and possess good skin elasticity. You will get the best results from your procedure and the fastest healing if you refrain from smoking cigarettes and avoid drugs and alcohol before the procedure and during your recovery. If you have a chronic illness such as diabetes, make sure you tell your surgeon and work to have the condition well controlled prior to surgery.
How Much Does Knee Liposuction Cost?
At Mia Aesthetics, our liposuction procedures start at $3,149. The exact price each patient pays varies, however, and we want you to understand why. The cost of your procedure will depend on the location you choose as well as the doctor you select to perform your surgery. Your individual needs will also impact costs. Different patients require different amounts of fat removal, for example, and this impacts the time the surgery takes and its associated costs.
Many patients also choose to combine multiple surgeries, often opting to have liposuction performed on their thighs or stomach at the same time it is done on their inner knees. This cuts costs in the long term as you need only pay for one anesthesia session and miss work for one recovery period. It adds to the costs of the knee liposuction, however.
How Long is the Recovery from Knee Liposuction?
We do ask liposuction patients to wear a compression garment for a time after surgery to reduce swelling and help the body adjust to its new shape. You may also find that you have drains at the surgical site if necessary. These prevent unwanted fluid buildup. If you do have drains after surgery your doctor will remove them for you, typically about 7 days after surgery. In the meantime, you will need to keep them clean and may need to empty them periodically. Doing so is quite simple and we’ll show you how before you leave our office.
We perform liposuction as an outpatient procedure so you will go home the day of your surgery. You will need a ride, however, as you can’t drive safely after anesthesia. Pain after liposuction is generally only mild to moderate for most people, but we will provide you with pain medication to ensure that you are comfortable. You will need to wait 4 to 6 weeks to resume rigorous activity, but most patients return to work about a week after their knee liposuction procedure.
Will the Fat Come Back?
This is a tricky question. The fat cells that we remove during your liposuction procedure will not come back. You can say goodbye to that fat for good. So long as you maintain a fairly steady weight after your procedure, your knees will remain in much the same condition as they were right after the procedure. If you gain a substantial amount of weight, however, things can change.
As you start to gain weight, your remaining fat cells expand. We don’t remove all of the fat from your inner knee during liposuction, so changes in the fat cells there could start to impact your results. If you gain enough weight, your body will go so far as to produce new fat cells and then proceed to decide where it will deposit them. It makes this decision completely on its own with zero input from you, unfortunately, and could very well place some of those new fat cells on your inner knees, essentially undoing your liposuction procedure. This is why it’s important to adopt a healthy lifestyle prior to your surgery if you haven’t already.