Will A Knee Lift Get Rid Of The Wrinkly Loose Skin Around My Knees?

Q: I am very interested in a knee lift.  I have had liposculpture around the front of my knee and thigh with the hope it would remove the wrinkly look I have around my knees.  I am 48 yrs old therefore the loss of skin elasticity has effected the look of my knees.  I am desperate for some advice of where I can go to improve  this part of my body. I have considered a thigh lift but have been advised that it is not possible to lift my problem area because there is a long distance between my knees and upper thighs.

A: The loose skin and wrinkles above and around the knee area is a difficult problem. As you have discovered, deflating thin older skin by liposuction will usually just create more loose skin. Like anywhere else on the body where there is loose skin, it is possible to do some form of a lift. Essentially a knee lift is the direct removal of skin above the knee cap area. This is actually a fairly simple procedure in concept but is flawed by the creation of a scar. While lifts are done in many areas of the body and they all create scars, the knee lift is unusual in its location. It is placed in an area that is directly exposed to high degree of motion and a high angle of potential flexion…which puts stretching forces on the scar in a perpendicular direction. This will likely result in noticeable scar widening. Whether such a scar is a better aesthetic result than the wrinkly skin around the knee is a critical question. While I would have to see how ‘bad’ your knees look now, I would be suspicious that this may not be a good aesthetic trade-off.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana