Cosmetic Options To Consider After Massive Weight Loss
Losing weight is a difficult journey, whether you are a little over your target or morbidly obese. It takes a lot of effort, discipline, and self-control. When you complete your weight loss journey, it should be celebrated and enjoyed after all your hard work.
Unfortunately, celebrating can be hard when you still have to deal with the leftover effects of your weight – areas with sagging skin, stretch marks, and very little definition in your figure. Cosmetic plastic surgery has several options to help you break this final barrier to getting the body and the self-confidence that you’ve worked so hard to achieve.
Lift Surgery
Lift surgery is extremely common in plastic surgery. You find it in both facial and body surgery. It’s a terrific option for post-weight loss patients because it is designed to remove excess skin and leftover fat deposits, remove or conceal stretch marks, and tighten up the body to improve contouring. The procedure involves making an incision in a place that is easy to conceal, then using that incision as a base point to remove fat and trim excess soft tissue. The skin that is not trimmed is then lifted back to the incision, which is closed with stitches. There are different lift surgeries available, including the following:
- Arm lift, which tightens up the arms to give you better tone
- Thigh lift, which does the same for your upper legs
- Neck lift, which is especially helpful for people with residual double chins or loose skin around their neck
- General body lift, which tightens up your hips, upper torso, buttocks, thighs, and belly
These procedures give you the opportunity to improve your figure and eliminate the loose skin that hangs on your frame.
Tummy Tuck
Fat tends to settle around your middle because gravity pulls it down. When you’re gaining weight, the extra fat pushes the skin and causes it to expand, leading to stretch marks. Your abdominal muscles can also start to separate from a lack of physical activity or pregnancy. After the fat is gone, the stretch marks remain and keep your skin loose around your tummy. Your muscles also stay separated and are difficult to tone. The tummy tuck procedure tightens your belly up so that it is smoother and better compliments your figure. There are different versions of the tummy tuck, including the following:
- Abdominoplasty – This is the standard tummy tuck. Incisions are made between the hip bones just above or at the pelvic area. The skin is lifted back so the surgeon can repair your abdominal muscles and remove any residual fatt deposits. Extra soft tissue is also removed before the skin is lifted back to the incision and stitched in place.
- Fleur-de-lis abdominoplasty – For massive weight loss patients, this version of the tummy tuck may be more beneficial because it removes extra skin horizontally and vertically. People who have been obese or substantially overweight tend to have a problem with extra skin across their entire abdomen instead of just at the hips. In addition to the horizontal incision made during a standard tummy tuck, a vertical incision is also made from the pubic bone towards the chest. The length of this incision will vary depending on how much tightening needs to be done across the abdomen.
- Reverse abdominoplasty – Some patients have a problem with extra fat and skin at the top of their abdomen rather than at the bottom. A reverse abdominoplasty works in the same way as the standard tummy tuck, except that the incision is made at the top of the abdomen instead of the bottom, usually under the breast.
Liposuction
Liposuction isn’t used to help patients lose significant amounts of weight, but it can be used to help areas where fat deposits are difficult to eliminate through diet and exercise alone. When your skin stretches, it makes room for fat cells to hide when you start losing weight. These deposits are often found around your hips, thighs, and belly, but they can be present at other spots in your body as well. Liposuction can be used to remove this extra fat and improve your body contouring. With standard liposuction, a small incision is made and a thin hollow tube is used to manually break up the fat cells before suctioning them out. There are other types of liposuction that can be used, including:
- Smartlipo – This version uses a laser to break down the fat cells before they are removed through the tube. It minimizes bruising and discomfort because the cells don’t have to be manually broken up.
- Tumescent liposuction – In this version, the area is flooded with a large volume of fluid containing an anesthetic, which causes the fat deposits to break apart.
- VASERlipo – This is similar to Smartlipo, except that instead of a laser, ultrasonic pulses of energy are used to break apart the fat before it is removed.
Choosing Between Your Cosmetic Surgery Options
As you can see, you have a lot of options when you’re choosing which procedures you want. It is common for post-weight loss patients to have more than one procedure, and some even go through multiple surgical sessions before they are satisfied with the results. Not every patient needs the same type or number of procedures, and neither will you. Your choices and your plastic surgeon’s choices will depend on your specific body type and your specific body needs.
You can discuss these and other cosmetic surgery options with one of our expert plastic surgeons at Spalding Drive Plastic Surgery by scheduling a patient consultation. Consultation appointments can be made by calling (310) 275-2467 or through the Contact page.