360 Body lift for Massive Weight Loss Patients

There are several factors that will influence if you will have weight loss skin sagging.

• Age: young adults will have more skin shrinkage compared to those over 50 years of age, as the skin elasticity reduces as we age, due to depletion of the collagen and elastin.
• Quality of skin; if you have thin, skin with a lot of stretch marks the chances of your loose skin going away are slim.
• Have you had many yo-yo dieting and weight gain experiences; every time you gain and lose weight you will reduce the elasticity of the skin.
• For women, pregnancy, childbirth, Caesarean (C section) Sections, will increase the risk of a saggy belly after weight loss.
• Rate of weight loss: most experts agree that a sensible rate of weight loss is about 500 gms to 1 kilogram every week.
• How much weight did you lose? The greater the amount, the greater the chances of weight loss sagging skin.

Similar to the way the tummy skin of a pregnant woman will shrink after she delivers the baby, your skin does have the ability to shrink as it adapts to the shrinking fat volume. As we describe in this article there are many ways of promoting the skin contraction. But there is a limit to how much slack the skin can take up. Dr Prashant advises all patients to allow a period of 6 – 8 months following weight loss to allow the skin the maximum contraction possible. Following this period, you can revaluate the situation and plan for body contouring surgery if required.

As we discuss there are many factors that will influence if you are going to have skin sagging, following your weight loss. Clearly if you lose a 100 Pounds (7 Stone or 45 Kg) your skin will struggle to cope with the shrinking volume, leaving you with sagging arms, breasts, tummy, buttock, thighs. Compared to that if you are loosing 50 Pounds (3.5 Stone or 23 Kg) over a 4 – 6 month period and you are young with good quality skin you might not have the problem of sagging skin.

So, there is no specific answer to the question “how much weight loss causes loose skin”. Clearly the answer has many factors like, how much weight have you lost, over how many days, what is your age, what is the quality of your skin.

As Doctor Prashant advises his patients at Reforme Medical in Cardiff, SLOW, STEADY WIEGHT LOSS is the key to keeping your skin from sagging. In addition to this advice these are the things Dr Prashant recommends:

• Twice a day moisturising your skin to try to preserve its hydration and elasticity.
• Oral Collagen Supplements 30 gms of Collagen Peptide powder once or twice a day, or Collagen Hydrolysate or Bone Broth might increase the collagen strength of your skin.
• Building muscle mass to fill out the fat loss volume.
• Body Shaper or Shapewear garments and other support garments/bras.
• Don’t cycle your weight, or go through periods of high and normal weight.
• Reduce sun exposure, as we know that sun exposure destroys the skin’s elastin and collagen.
• A healthy diet rich in proteins, Vitamin C, Omega-3 Fatty Acids and staying well hydrated.
• Smoking will reduce the blood supply to the skin and the toxicity it causes will reduce skin shrinkage.

Loosing your weight slowly over a period of 6 to 12 months through a combination of lifestyle changes, diet and exercise, is generally associated with the least about of skin sagging following weight loss.

One of the ways to minimize loose skin during weight loss is to lose weight slowly. Dr Prashant recommends a 500 gms to 1 kilo (1 to 2 Pounds) weight loss every week as being a sensible rate of weight loss that will allow your skin to adapt to the changing form.

Types of weight loss surgery

There are an increasing range of Weight Loss Surgeries, some are listed below:

a) Sleeve Gastrectomy or Gastric Sleeve,
b) Roux En Y Surgery,
c) Lap Band or Gastric Band,
d) Gastric Balloon,
e) Primary Obesity Surgery Endolumenal (POSE) Procedure.

Yes, the use of devices that use energy in the form of Radiofrequency (VelaShape) or Ultrasound (ULipo) has been promoted to tighten the skin following weight loss. The devices clearly have a limitation and can’t deliver the results of Body Contouring Surgery.

If you have reached the weight loss target you wanted to reach, and if you have been at this targeted weight for more than 6 – 8 months, you will be an ideal patient for Body Contouring Surgery.

These Plastic Surgical procedures are designed to remove all the excess skin while hiding the scars along natural creases were possible. While there are many kinds of contouring surgeries a list of more common ones is given below:

• Lipo Abdominoplasty (tummy tuck)- this cosmetic surgery is designed to remove the sagging skin on the front of the belly, it can be combined with repositioning of the belly button and tightening the muscles.
• Lower body lift- this surgery is also described as Belt Lipectomy, 360-degree lift, and combines a tummy tuck with a similar tuck of the flanks, lower back and buttocks.
• Upper Body Lift- this is a cosmetic surgery designed to get rid of the excess skin on the front of the chest and upper back.
• Thigh lift- this can be a medial thigh lift or sometimes a lateral thigh lift or combination.
• Arm lift or Brachioplasty- gets rid of the excess skin on the arms and is often combined with a lift of the breast
• Augmentation Mastopexy- is a cosmetic surgery designed to lift the breast with a combination of a breast implant and skin re-draping.