New York, NY (October 8, 2018) – Findings from a recent study published in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, the official publication of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (The Aesthetic Society) found that characteristics of the aesthetically ideal thigh in women include wider thighs, creating a more natural contour from the augmented buttock. These findings represent a fundamental shift from the traditionally assumed preference for slender thighs and demonstrate the importance for plastic surgeons to consider thigh appearance and augmentation when performing gluteal procedures.
Last year, there were more than 1.5 million aesthetic surgical procedures performed in the United States. As modern aesthetic trends shift to fuller, more dramatic curves, the number of gluteal augmentations also continue to rise. In 2017, more than 25,000 buttock augmentation procedures were performed—an increase of more than 25% from the previous year. Yet, there is little research available to inform patients and surgeons about the impact that thigh shape and size can have on the overall aesthetic after a buttock augmentation. To predict positive outcomes for this procedure, the authors performed the first population analysis of thigh characteristics that men and women view as aesthetically attractive.
Using images from the operative photos of a 27-year-old female patient, the surgeons digitally altered the images to create thighs of varying proportions and angles. These images were surveyed among a diverse group of men and women from the U.S. and abroad. Of those surveyed, 54.4% of respondents were male and 45.6% were female, with all age groups and ethnicities represented. The data received concluded that contrary to traditional aesthetic perceptions, respondents preferred the thigh option with a thigh-buttock junction angle of 170 degrees and thus the widest thigh base with more than 43% preferring it overall.
“Trends in cosmetic nonsurgical and surgical procedures have been leaning towards more pronounced, curvier aesthetics for quite some time now, so this doesn’t come as a surprise,” states W. Grant Stevens, MD, President of The Aesthetic Society and an author of the study. “Further, balance and harmony have always been in vogue, so if you enhance the size/shape of one feature, it makes sense to balance that enhancement out with nearby features as needed,” he explains.
While many have described detailed guidelines for surgical approaches to gluteal augmentation, the thigh, though in immediate proximity to the buttock and playing a significant role in its appearance, has been neglected by researchers. By surveying a diverse group of individuals, the authors seek to begin to establish population-based guidelines for the ideal thigh and improve outcomes and patient satisfaction for gluteal procedures.
