If you’ve achieved your weight loss goals through exercise, diet, or bariatric surgery, we are happy for you. It means you are now on the road to a very positive change. Right now, it is likely that you look and feel better. You worked tirelessly and are proud of what you have achieved.
However, achieving your goals can also involve excess hanging tissue and skin, which are often consequences of successfully attaining those goals. Fortunately, some plastic surgery can help make your medical weight loss goals a success by improving body contours and getting rid of excess tissue/skin.
Why Get a Plastic Surgery?
When we gain weight, our skin stretches. When we lose weight, we lose fat, but the skin remains stretched. If you notice unwanted sagging skin following a significant weight loss, schedule plastic surgery for several reasons.
First, plastic surgery can help you improve body contouring. Through plastic surgery, you can tighten underlying tissues and get rid of excess skin. The procedure you choose will help to contour your body, giving it a proportionate and defined appearance.
Second, the procedure can improve your psychological well-being. Although weight loss improves our physical health, the psychological and emotional aspects are important, too. After a weight loss, you can struggle with image issues because of excess skin. Fortunately, surgery may help to address these issues and even boost your self-esteem, enabling you to embrace your new body.
Last but not least, a surgical procedure can enhance physical comfort. Excess skin usually causes irritation, discomfort, and difficulty engaging in physical activities. Surgery alleviates all these issues by removing excess skin, allowing you to move around confidently and freely.
What to Expect
Health experts say a patient must be very close to their weight loss goals before a surgery procedure. Maintaining continuous weight loss for three or six months before surgery is an important aspect to consider. Experts will perform a specialized nutrition lab test to optimize and select candidates to minimize postoperative risks.
First, experts discuss expectations with their patients and provide helpful details about what will be offered throughout the process. They also tailor surgical procedures depending on patients’ overall health, anatomical needs, and objectives. Recommendations may include options to target problem areas, such as:
- Buttocks
- Back
- Thighs
- Arms
- Neck
- Face
Plastic Surgeries after Weight Loss
Whatever procedure you opt for, the key goal is to ‘redrape’ our bodies by tightening and removing the remaining skin. This, in turn, provides a more youthful and natural appearance.
These plastic surgeries need anesthesia, apart from specific areas, and less invasive procedures, such as mini-lifts. Here are examples of plastic surgeries you can undergo following a major weight loss:
- Panniculectomy/abdominoplasty
- Buttock and thighs lift
- Liposuction
- Breast reshaping
- Liposuction
- Neck/facelift
The bottom line is that your results and procedures will always be unique to you. However, you might require a combination of a few procedures that a doctor must schedule months or weeks apart to let you heal properly. After the procedure, you will immediately notice improvements, and once you are fully healed, you will achieve a slimmer and tighter body.
