Add shape to ankles, knees and elbows.

[Ctuckit]

My daughter has always had large undefined legs and upper arms.  She has been an athlete all her life, eats well and exercises at times obsessively.  We said we would look into liposuction for her but have heard mixed reviews on achieving results that look natural not "lumpy'.  Her entire leg from thigh to ankle varies very little and gives her body the impression of being overweight when in fact, she is active and eats responsibly.  Our local plastic surgeon said she should just loose weight. I have always been very direct with her and I truly don't feel any amount of dieting and exercise will achieve the result she wants. We need some solid advice.  We have very limited funds and want to remove her obsession with her body flaws so she can focus on life. We would be willing to travel to cites in the Northeastern part of the United States.

[b34087]

A related discussion, cosmetic surgery for the elbow and knees was started.

[sasha672]

A related discussion, Can legs be re-shaped? was started.

[upscale]

I have boney knees.  I recently lost weight and my knees look really bad.  I have always had knoby knees but now they look terrible.  Is there anyway to add fat to my knees, especially on the lower part of the knees.

My calfs are small also so my knees really stand out.

[Howard Rosenberg, MD]

Liposuction is a wonderful procedure that I perform virtually daily.  It works best for localized areas of fat accumulation.  However, refined shaping of the thighs and legs may exceed the capabilities of both the technique and the surgeon, which may explain the response of your local plastic surgeon.  It would be worthwhile obtaining other opinions by other board certified plastic surgeons.  However, if you get several similar opinions, then I would be leary of putting your daughter through a procedure that risks either real disappointment or creates a deformity that is impossible to correct.