Bowed legs is a condition that causes the legs to bend outwards between the thighs and ankles, causing a curve that resembles a bow. Children are born with the condition, but it usually goes away after about the age of four as the child’s walking abilities improve and the body learns to balance its own weight. In some cases, however, bowed legs continue through adulthood. If left untreated, bowed legs can worsen over time, causing pain, difficulty walking and arthritis.
There are several ways to correct bowed legs, depending on the severity of the condition and age of the patient. Sometimes a simple brace can do the trick, while other times the child can benefit from a regimen of special vitamins and exercise. When bowed legs carry into adulthood, not only can pain be suffered, but the appearance of the bow legs can cause the individual to feel self-conscious and embarrassed.
However, most people suffering with bowed legs rather take their chances with the emotional and physical complications from the condition than undergo the usual treatment, which consists of inserting a painful apparatus into the legs to change the length and shape of the bones. This treatment can last several months and is accompanied by pain – pain which does not need to be experienced.
What not many people know is that depending on the severity of the bowed legs, there are several alternatives to correct the appearance of the condition – one of the most innovative being through a unique procedure called fat grafting.
Fat grafting is a plastic surgery treatment that involves transferring a patient’s own fat cells from one part of the body, such as the saddle bags or abdomen, to another, in this case the area of the legs where the bow curve is apparent or where fullness in the legs is missing. New York plastic surgeon Dr. Leonard Grossman developed the technique in 1995 and has been perfecting it ever since.
Since the leg bones are not being affected, patients don’t have to worry about any pain, deformities or physical therapy following the bow leg fat grafting treatment. And since the patient’s own natural fat is being used, the risk of complications is virtually zero.
Correcting the curvature and the size of the thighs or calves to correct bowed legs in adults through fat transfer also has several advantages over other methods, such as implants. Implants can often be rejected by the body, which in fat transfer treatments, that risk is eliminated since the fat is the patient’s own. There is also no risk of breakage or shifting, as can happen with implants. The procedure takes just two hours and gives patients immediate results that not only look natural, but feel natural as well.
According to Dr. Grossman, the patients can return to their normal lifestyle just three days after surgery.
If you have been suffering from bowed legs for most of your life and want a simple, painless and safe alternative to surgery, turn to Dr. Grossman today for an appointment to see if fat grafting for bowed legs is the ideal choice for you.