Post loss surgery for excess skin?

rnelson88

Weight lifting will definitely help tighten up the loose skin. Just give it some time and you'll notice the improvement.

jeepinshawn

LindzMiche wrote: »

eatingfatbeingfat wrote: »

I lost 150 pounds over the last two years. I am 33, mobile, in good health. I have extensive skin sagging on my mons pubis (TMI?), stomach, breasts and thighs. You can see some on my neck if you know what to look for, but most people don't.

A lower body lift runs about 10k for a very good surgeon (American. There are qualified surgeons in Mexico and India, but I am concerned about over site?). I think it is closer to 15 for a full body lift. 20-25 for full body plus breast implants. I hope to have my 10K saved over the next two years, but no guarantees.

It is a bit of a mind *kitten* to be honest. It took a decent amount of time to acclimate to my new body and fact, I would have these waves of dissociation and lack of identity when I lost the weight (I had been overweight since 3rd grade, it was my normal).

Then, even if you have the cash, one surgery usually won't cover the whole deal. How can it? Dealing with accepting it is part of the 'major weight loss journey' of self love. It can feel like, "I did all this work, I want to look good outside of clothes." It is also an issue if you are dating, and now I feel like I will have to introduce the idea of my saggy skin up front, which is about as awkward as it gets. One of the reasons I dragged my feet on weight loss is that I knew I would look like a melted candle after, and that can be hard to take.

I work in the beauty industry, and meet flawless people who hate themselves all day. I am significantly less flawless than them, but I loved myself enough to endure losing 150 pounds, then I can push it to loving myself even with saggy skin. Honestly, It feels soft and squishy, which is kind of pleasant. I know there will be men who reject me outright because that is a deal breaker for them, but people reject others for many reasons. I hope at some point I meet someone who is 100% cool with it. Even better if that person is me.

But if you are not prepared for the reality it can feel like a backhanded punishment for all your hard work, which it isn't. It is simply cause and effect. And since most of the time we caused it, owning it can be difficult.

It feels better to know others struggle with it too.

PS - Consider Daily Dry Brushing. Making sure to oil/moisturize your skin daily is helpful as well. It does not cause miracles, but it does help increase the circulation your skin gets. Many people over dry their body skin by using sulfates in their body wash.

@eatingfatbeingfat Could not have said it better myself. I was super worried about the whole dating thing too.. and having to 'introduce' it at some point. Never was an issue... granted.. I only dealt with one guy after.. and we are getting married in a little over a month.

I had to work on the not viewing my skin as a punishment. You don't really see/hear of that side very much.. especially when you see seemingly flawless women on the cover of magazines in bikinis next to the headline 'MAJOR 100+ WEIGHT LOSS. SEE HOW THEY DID IT!'

Slowly working on it though. Honeymoon in June.. I plan on wearing my first two piece ever.. (always have been overweight). It has taken me 3+ years in maintenance to be comfortable with it.. but all in your own time.

Yeah I don't see my loose skin as a punishment, it is just disappointing. It wasn't a factor I had really considered, I still wouldn't want to gain the fat back, but it isn't something you see when people talk about losing 100lbs...

Latitude11Courtney

I think it also depends on how damaged the skin may be and how healthy you are. I just started picking back up my weight loss journey with great hopes to be in Mexico next summer for reconstructive surgery.

Gamliela

neohdiver wrote: »

dopeysmelly wrote: »

I lost 60 lbs in about 9 months, which was a 1/3 of my body weight. I had loose skin on stomach, thighs, arms, neck etc. Nothing too significant but it was noticeable. Except for my stomach, which is still a bit loose but from having my daughter years ago, it all tightened up by itself. I didn't do anything special, just kinda average workouts, no creams or potions. I didn't even notice the saggy skin had gone, until my husband pointed it out. My advice is to wait for at least a year, then reassess. The body can be pretty amazing without any help.

I agree.

I have, unfortunately, lost 60+ lbs twice - hoping the 3rd time will be the charm. Both prior times my skin shrunk back on its own - and it shows every sign of doing so again this time (at age 59). I suspect it has more to do with skin genetics and amount lost than it does with age, speed of weight loss, exercise, or any other controllable factor

(FWIW, I lose weight very quickly - this time 44 lbs in 5 months, and kept the weight off 5 and 3 years, respectively. My skin shrunk pretty much simultaneously with the weight loss.)

I lost 75 pounds over three to four years when I was age 56 to 60.

It left no sagging or loose skin. Also I neve got stretch marks from my two pregnancies where I weighed about the same as my start weight for that post menopause weight loss.

So I agree it has a lot to do with genetics of the skin strength. Also maybe the longer time losing contributed to the lack of skin hanging?

jaynee7283

My stomach area is a hot mess after gaining weight and having two kids (both c-sections). Genetics are also not on my side (my mother is very small and thin, but has always had "the pooch"). I have stretch marks AND a long scar from a separate abdominal surgery a couple years ago (cancer related). My belly fat sags, and is also permanently numb because of the c-sections. I fear no matter how much I lose or work out to gain muscle and toning in that area, it will still require surgery. I'm down 18 pounds thus far, and plan to lose another 100. At that point I'll start wearing Spanx every day to lose the perma-bump in my clothes, and begin saving $$ for a tummy tuck.

MommaLovesToLoseIt

I really, really appreciate all of the responses. It seems like the saggy or loose skin is as individual as anything else, I just have to wait and see what the outcome will be. Thanks again

broseidonkingofbrocean

rnelson88 wrote: »

Weight lifting will definitely help tighten up the loose skin. Just give it some time and you'll notice the improvement.

Not the case for everyone. Some people go past the point of no return and no amount of weight training will help.

For the main poster without seeing the amount of loose skin I can't really make a judgement call on this. What I would do is go to your doctor and ask them if its possible for your loose skin to bounce back, they should have a general idea if what you need is time or surgery.

Holly_Wood_888

im no expert but thought: why don't you go to a health food store and try a product called 'CLA' before you consider surgery ... its also quite possible to tone up some of the excess skin by weight training

dawnemjh

broseidonkingofbrocean wrote: »

rnelson88 wrote: »

Weight lifting will definitely help tighten up the loose skin. Just give it some time and you'll notice the improvement.

Not the case for everyone. Some people go past the point of no return and no amount of weight training will help.

For the main poster without seeing the amount of loose skin I can't really make a judgement call on this. What I would do is go to your doctor and ask them if its possible for your loose skin to bounce back, they should have a general idea if what you need is time or surgery.

Agree with bro!!!

I lost about 125 lbs and kept the weight off for over 10 years while working out and lifting weights and no amount of weights or cardio helped the loose skin on my tummy or inner thighs. I didnt like the tummy but the thighs bothered me the most because it was visible in anything I wore that was cut above the knee...I ended up going for plastic surgery consult and they had me do the tummy first because they needed a good "anchor" for when they did the thigh lift.
I have since had both the thighs and tummy and dont regret having surgery for one minute. The thighs still have some dimpling that I guess will never go away but the droopy skin is much better. My belly came out great and I even ended up having another baby (surprise) after the tummy tuck and the belly eventually went back to how it was after tummy tuck..

Good luck and congrats on weight loss!

flrancho

I lost about 93 pounds with MFP, but around 130 all together within a period of almost a year and a half. This was my second weight loss attempt (lost it all the first time and then gained it all back plus some). I'm 29 and have never had kids.

I wasn't prepared for the loose skin. I knew it could happen, but I'm young and never had saggy skin problems with my previous weight loss, so I never thought it would be an issue. But now it is, and I'm at 27-30% body fat and want to get down to 17-22%, so I know the saggy, loose skin is going to get worse before it gets better. Its the worst at my breasts which look like deflated balloons or raisins after going from a 40-something F to a 34 DD. My thighs are pretty bad too. I'm starting to get some loose skin on my underarms, but it doesn't look that bad yet. Ironically I store most of my fat in my belly and its one place that doesn't have loose skin - of course its where I still store most of my body fat, so going down in body fat percentage may change all that.

I know I can't do anything about it right now until I get to where I want body fat wise and then I'll have to play the waiting game to see if my skin is going to catch up, but I hate the way it looks. Especially on my breasts. And given the fact that I'm not married and don't have a boyfriend, I'm pretty subconscious about it. At 29 I've never had a boyfriend and I've only ever been asked out twice in my life. Guys were just never into me. This weight loss was supposed to be my fix for being healthy and becoming more attractive. Now I wonder if I'm ever going to find anyone that wants me, even being skinny, because of having all this saggy, loose skin. I know surgery can fix it, but I don't know how I'd ever be able to afford it.

Right now I'm going to the gym to try to loose body fat and build muscle. Wether they work or not, I am trying several other things to try to help my skin out. I use a collogen cream daily. Every other day I use a shea butter sugar scrub on areas where I have loose skin or fear that loose skin will develop (like my belly). Afterwards the skin feels much tighter, but gets lax and goes back to being saggy in a hour or so - however the loose skin on my chest above my breasts does seem to have gotten tighter over the past month. I also periodically rub aloe or olive oil onto my saggy areas. I have also been considering starting to take a multi vitamin high in omega 3s, vitamin E, and C as these are supposed to help with your skin, or eating more of things that have these nutrients in them naturally. I also started doing some massage to the areas that I have loose skin. Maybe these things will help, maybe they won't, but I'm willing to try to take a shot.

gramarye

flrancho wrote: »

At 29 I've never had a boyfriend and I've only ever been asked out twice in my life. Guys were just never into me. This weight loss was supposed to be my fix for being healthy and becoming more attractive. Now I wonder if I'm ever going to find anyone that wants me, even being skinny, because of having all this saggy, loose skin.

I had this fear when I was losing weight after a divorce, and I want to assure you that for the most part, it doesn't turn out to be as big of a deal as you might fear. I've dated two guys since I've lost weight, and neither had anything to say about loose skin at all.

I don't know if that helps, but I hope it does.

alizesmom

I've lost 78# and look like the saggy, baggy elephant. I've only been at maintenance for a month and plan to give myself a full year to see if anything tightens up. If it doesn't I'm hoping that I will have achieved some level of acceptance.

robininfl

Gamliela wrote: »

neohdiver wrote: »

dopeysmelly wrote: »

I lost 60 lbs in about 9 months, which was a 1/3 of my body weight. I had loose skin on stomach, thighs, arms, neck etc. Nothing too significant but it was noticeable. Except for my stomach, which is still a bit loose but from having my daughter years ago, it all tightened up by itself. I didn't do anything special, just kinda average workouts, no creams or potions. I didn't even notice the saggy skin had gone, until my husband pointed it out. My advice is to wait for at least a year, then reassess. The body can be pretty amazing without any help.

I agree.

I have, unfortunately, lost 60+ lbs twice - hoping the 3rd time will be the charm. Both prior times my skin shrunk back on its own - and it shows every sign of doing so again this time (at age 59). I suspect it has more to do with skin genetics and amount lost than it does with age, speed of weight loss, exercise, or any other controllable factor

(FWIW, I lose weight very quickly - this time 44 lbs in 5 months, and kept the weight off 5 and 3 years, respectively. My skin shrunk pretty much simultaneously with the weight loss.)

I lost 75 pounds over three to four years when I was age 56 to 60.

It left no sagging or loose skin. Also I neve got stretch marks from my two pregnancies where I weighed about the same as my start weight for that post menopause weight loss.

So I agree it has a lot to do with genetics of the skin strength. Also maybe the longer time losing contributed to the lack of skin hanging?

I had four big babies. Skin bounced back great after 1 & 2 in my 20's and #3 when I was 36 but it wasn't willing to bounce after #4. It's not awful, pretty sure I wouldn't get tummy tucked even if the funds weren't an issue, but it isn't back where it was after the other three. I think it's more like a rubberband - it has its natural bounce and you can definitely have 'good skin' or 'bad skin' in terms of elasticity, but repeated overstretching can overextend its capacity to return.

Onhowtobelovely

I had a circumferential abdominoplasty after losing about 150 lbs. There was honestly nothing that would have shrunk my skin. The skin and tissue my surgeon removed weighed 10 lbs. I paid for it. Some insurances will pay for a portion of the work if you have back pain or frequent infections, the key is documentation. I didn't have any of these issues. My BCBS gold plan would have paid for a panniculectomy which would have been a minor part of the procedure that was done. Mine was around $15000 by a board certified, top ten in my state surgeon. I still have loose skin on my upper back and chest and arms and thighs and my mons. I think that building muscle in some of these areas will help fill the skin, so to speak, like having some muscle mass will make the skin look less saggy.

I have decided to only get more surgery on the areas that impact my quality of life. The mons skin is an issue. The rest I can deal with. I had to get over the fact that I wasn't going to ever look perfect like all of the fitness girls I follow on instagram. I did a lot to my body and to see how it has bounced back and is performing now I am extremely grateful for. I would recommend being super stable at your goal weight before going under the knife. I wasn't and I wish I would have waited longer. People also commented a ton on my body afterward and that made me very self conscious and uncomfortable and believe me I was doing nothing to call attention to myself, I mean I had to wear sweatpants and yoga pants with a binder for like 6 weeks. If you're going to do it get many opinions. The doctor I went with was not the only doctor I consulted with.

Hope this helps. I'm not trying to brag about my surgeon (he is wonderful though) I just want to give as many facts as possible for people thinking about having surgery.