If fatty thighs and knees are a recent predicament for you, the cause may be linked to hormonal changes, like pregnancy or menopause. The knees are a surprising area where fat can accumulate. When there’s too much of it in the knees, the legs can look disproportionate, and the knees may look distorted. Keeping at a constant weight, with exercise and a proper diet, is the best way to keep unwanted fat from settling, although there is a genetic tendency to it.
The knees can also be treated with liposuction to get rid of unnecessary fat with an incision at the knee or the groin (an incision in the groin also addresses fat in the thighs and results in less swelling during recovery). “This area is amenable to sculpting and shaping with liposuction, but caution needs to be taken because the fat pockets are smaller and contour deformities can be more obvious,” says Reno, NV plastic surgeon Tiffany McCormack, MD. When done right, liposuction to the knees can give good results and a barely visible scar. But you’ll need to wait a few weeks for the swelling to go down before the final results can be seen. “Since the knees are farther away from the heart, it takes longer for swelling to subside and to fully recover,” adds San Francisco plastic surgeon Michael Kulick, MD. On the plus side, scars are tiny.
