Improving Loose Skin After Massive Weight Loss

 

There are so many benefits to losing a lot of weight.

Along with feeling more confident about your appearance, it can help with conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Massive weight loss has also shown to improve cholesterol, blood glucose, and insulin levels, as well as relieve back pain.

Improving Loose Skin After Massive Weight Loss

The only real drawback is skin laxity. Improving loose skin after massive weight loss can feel like a never-ending challenge.

Why Does This Happen?

One of the biggest factors is collagen.

Made of densely packed fibers, collagen is a major building block of skin and helps provide it with structure. When those fibers in the skin get stretched, as is the case with carrying too much weight, they don’t bounce back once the weight is shed.

And then there’s elastin, which is a key protein in the skin. It’s what helps the skin to return to its original position when pinched or poked.

As we age, the body produces less collagen and elastin. So they can’t be relied upon to replenish the skin after massive weight loss.

“Problem Areas”

People who lose a lot of weight are often left with excess skin on the torso, upper back, arms, legs, face, and neck.

When there is excess skin on the torso, back, and limbs, many people try to diet and exercise but with little to no success. And since losing weight can lessen lymphedema, decreased swelling in the arms and legs can also add to the issue of excess skin.

Abdominal muscles that have been stretched due to diastasis – the separation of abdominal muscles that often happens during pregnancy – can also add to the issue of abdominal laxity and prominence.

And excess skin around the neck and face can create the appearance of significantly advanced aging – thereby negating some of the increased self-confidence that comes from losing weight in the first place.

Moreover, excess skin can cause intertrigo – a common rash that shows up between the folds of excess skin.

So what’s a person to do?

The Best Way for Improving Loose Skin After Massive Weight Loss

One of the most enjoyable aspects of losing a lot of weight is the ability to fit into smaller and more stylish clothes. However, when there is excess skin due to this weight loss, it can make certain clothes feel awkward or even uncomfortable.

It can also lead to problems with intimacy.

Furthermore, skin and stretching of the abdomen muscles in diastasis can cause difficulty with exercise and maintaining that healthy new weight. This can lead to loss of self-esteem, anxiety, and depression.

 

Surgery to remove the excess skin and tighten the muscles is usually the only solution.

Any number of body lift surgeries are the most common procedures used to improve skin laxity after massive weight loss. These include tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, as well as buttock, arm, and breast lifts, circumferential body lift, mastopexy, and upper body lift.

As for skin laxity in the face, a three-dimensional rejuvenation procedure is often recommended. Loose muscles are repositioned, then a board-certified plastic surgeon removes the excess skin and increases volume in the newly tightened skin through fat grafting.

The results are amazing.

Get the Full Benefits of Losing Weight!

Is improving loose skin after massive weight loss a priority for you? If so, contact us for a free consultation.

You’ve made great strides in your weight loss. So why not reap all of the rewards?