The condition of being
significantly overweight can cause stress on your health in many
ways. If your physical activity has been limited due to your
overweight condition, you may have weak muscle tone, and your
skin may be severely stretched. Bariatric surgery,
sometimes called gastric bypass surgery, is one method of major
weight loss for individuals clinically defined as obese.
Following weight reduction surgery, or any substantial amount of
weight loss, the skin and tissues often lack elasticity and
cannot conform to the reduced body size. As a result, skin that
has been severely stretched now is unsupported, and begins to
sag in pockets that most commonly develop around the: • Face, neck and jowls,
resulting in a droopy, sad appearance • Upper arms, resulting
in a bat-like appearance • Breasts, causing them
to flatten and hang with nipples pointed downward • Abdominal area,
extending around the sides and into the lower back area,
resulting in an apron-like overhang • Buttocks, groin and
thighs, causing hanging pockets of skin Weak and sagging skin
that becomes macerated (wet or infected) is not only unattractive, it is also
a serious threat to your health and must be treated. Surgical body contouring
following major weight loss improves the shape and tone of the
underlying tissue that supports fat and skin, and removes excess
sagging fat and skin. The result is a more normal appearance to
the body, with smoother contours. This is, in essence, the final
phase of your total weight loss experience. However, before you
decide to undergo body contouring following major weight loss,
it is important to understand that your weight loss must have
stabilized. If you continue to lose weight, sagging pockets will
redevelop. If you rapidly regain the weight you have lost, you
will traumatically stress your already weakened and thinned
skin, causing further stress to the skin, visible stretch marks,
and wide scars. If you have had weight
reduction surgery, your plastic surgeon will work closely with
your physician to determine when it is appropriate for you to
begin body contouring. In general, good
candidates for body contouring are: • Adults of any age
whose weight loss has stabilized • Health individuals who
do not have medical conditions that can impair healing or
increase risk of surgery • Non-smokers • Individuals with a
positive outlook and realistic goals for what body contouring ca
accomplish • Individuals committed
to leading a healthy lifestyle including proper nutrition and
fitness My body contouring Your body contouring
following major weight loss will be individualized to your
specific conditions and the regions to be treated. The
procedures necessary to achieve your goals will be defined along
with a plan for the timing of these procedures. Specific plastic surgery
procedures that may be recommended for your body contouring
include: • Facelift: to reduce
sagging of the mid-face, jowls and neck • Breast Lift: to
correct sagging, flattened breasts • Tummy tuck: to correct
the apron of excess skin hanging over your abdomen • Lower body lifts: to
correct sagging of the abdomen, buttocks, groin and outer thigh • Medial thigh lift: to
correct sagging of the inner, outer and mid thigh • Brachioplasty: to
correct sagging of the upper arms You must accept that all
body contouring requires incisions to remove excess skin. In
many cases, these incisions may be extensive. Incision length
and pattern depend on the amount and location of excess skin to
be removed. Advanced techniques usually allow incisions to be
placed in strategic locations where they can be hidden by most
types of clothing and swimsuits, but this is not always the
case. Body contouring
following major weight loss is often performed in stages. Your
conditions, goals, health, safety and comfort as well as the
surgical judgment of your plastic surgeon will define a surgical
plan for you. While it may have taken you two years or more to
lose the weight, it may take equally as long for the results of
your body contouring to be complete. In addition to preparing
yourself for stages of contouring and recovery following
procedures, you must also accept that a single procedure to
treat a specific area may not achieve your results. Uneven
contours can develop following your body contouring surgery, and
in some cases, skin elasticity is so poor that relapse of
sagging skin is possible.
