skin removal surgery cost?

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  • Slimdownmb
    Slimdownmb Posts: 130 Member
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    Im so worried about getting excess skin!

    10k is ALOT! ... well ill just have to live with saggy skin i guess :-/
  • nwg74
    nwg74 Posts: 360 Member
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    I could do with surgery after losing over 200 pounds. I think I have less skin than I thought I was going to have. The onnly bit that bothers me is my chest and my belly, The skin is tight round my back and sides.

    In the UK, some NHS authorities do not do the surgery because it is cosmetic and some will do it but not even soon as possible even for medical reasons. There was a person in the news that suffers sores and infections all the time and has been told to maintain his weight for 3 years before the NHS does it. I understand needs to show the NHS some commitment to keep the weight off but 3 years is too long. They don't seem to factor in how much the NHS will be paying out to deal with these infections and sores in the mean time.

    Stomach surgery is around £5000-6000 and chest gynaecomastia surgery is £4000-£5000. That is around $15,000, I will never be able to afford it.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
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    My guess would be that insurance will not cover it because it is cosmetic.
  • fit4lifeUcan2
    fit4lifeUcan2 Posts: 1,458 Member
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    I work with insurance companies and have to deal with getting things covered. If you can show that the excess skin is causing medical problem such as infections, ulcers etc. then yes the insurance will cover to have it removed. I had my eye lids lifted because of a medical condition that caused them to droop and the excess skin was interfering with my vision. I no longer look like I had a stroke. But until the skin got to the point where it was causing a decreased vision I couldn't get it done.

    I have seen people get turned down for skin removal surgery while others get approved. It depends on the reason for the removal as well as how the claim is processed with the insurance. Discuss it with your doctor. Tell your doctor about any rash you may be getting in that area, is it getting in the way of doing daily tasks, is there an odor coming from the skin... all of this needs to be documented and can help you get approval from your insurance. You can't just walk in and say I want this removed because it looks horrible and get it approved. There has to be a medical reason/need to have it removed besides your vanity.

    Hope this helps you get it approved.
  • fit4lifeUcan2
    fit4lifeUcan2 Posts: 1,458 Member
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    One of my clients lost a lot of weight and she said she was having her skin removed for free at a local burn center hospital. Not sure if you have a burn center hospital near you but she went to the Shriners Burn Center hospital in Galveston , Texas.

    Im not sure if she went through with it but it maybe an option and a way to help a burn victim.

    Yes SOME burn centers will do this for you as long as you are donating that skin to burn victims. I don't know how good you'll look afterwards or how much they will remove. They can not take skin from areas that get infected often. Typically they like to take the fleshy under arm area..."bat wings" as us women call it. But contact a burn center and ask. Worst that could happen is they say no.
  • 99cherrypie99
    99cherrypie99 Posts: 205 Member
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    I had the full 360 circumferential skin removal surgery 1 year ago yesterday. It was about $12,000 and insurance covered a whopping $1,000.

    The day before surgery

    2aabps0.jpg

    Yesterday:

    1253z0o.jpg

    Jen

    jenhudsonmosher.blogspot.com
  • cheddar2000
    cheddar2000 Posts: 43 Member
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    This sounds harsh and maybe it is but the saddest part to me is that anyone allows their body to get so overweight and stretched that you need to have pounds of skin removed. Maybe put pictures on chip and soda cans of naked people with saggy skin like they do pictures on cigarette packages. I can understand insurance not paying for something you intentionally did to yourself.

    Really harsh, glad you are not a buddy of mine!
  • KristysLosing
    KristysLosing Posts: 683
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    This sounds harsh and maybe it is but the saddest part to me is that anyone allows their body to get so overweight and stretched that you need to have pounds of skin removed. Maybe put pictures on chip and soda cans of naked people with saggy skin like they do pictures on cigarette packages. I can understand insurance not paying for something you intentionally did to yourself.

    Most of us didn't get here intentionally. Presumably, none of us did. Personally...I was ignorant. I knew exercise was important, but I knew nothing about calories. I've been overweight for about 1/2 of my life. I wish I would have had this knowledge and these tools much sooner. I wouldn't have gotten to this point. But ignorance does not make the gain intentional. I did not do it on purpose.
  • Kat5343
    Kat5343 Posts: 451 Member
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    This sounds harsh and maybe it is but the saddest part to me is that anyone allows their body to get so overweight and stretched that you need to have pounds of skin removed. Maybe put pictures on chip and soda cans of naked people with saggy skin like they do pictures on cigarette packages. I can understand insurance not paying for something you intentionally did to yourself.


    Well, insurance pays for cancer treatments when people have been lifelong smokers... they did that to theirselves also..
  • OneDimSim
    OneDimSim Posts: 188 Member
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    One of my clients lost a lot of weight and she said she was having her skin removed for free at a local burn center hospital. Not sure if you have a burn center hospital near you but she went to the Shriners Burn Center hospital in Galveston , Texas.

    Im not sure if she went through with it but it maybe an option and a way to help a burn victim.

    Wow! Interesting! Sounds like a great way to also help others....
  • supergirl6
    supergirl6 Posts: 224 Member
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    A friend of mine is getting several spots fixed and it'll cost $20,000.

    I also have a friend who has lost over 150 lbs and the entire time she took great pains to moisturize her skin twice a day and weight trained the entire time. It's been a slow and steady loss. She took very good care of her skin through the whole process and has very little excess now. I'm using her tips on my own weight loss. Her doctor encouraged her not to seek skin removal for the last bit on her belly for another year at least because she's still weight training and he said that many patients see their skin continue to bounce back and she may not need it.
  • maegmez
    maegmez Posts: 341 Member
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    This sounds harsh and maybe it is but the saddest part to me is that anyone allows their body to get so overweight and stretched that you need to have pounds of skin removed. Maybe put pictures on chip and soda cans of naked people with saggy skin like they do pictures on cigarette packages. I can understand insurance not paying for something you intentionally did to yourself.

    I have to agree that this is harsh, however, you make an excellent point about comparing anti-smoking to anti-obesity campaigns.....not enough is done to deter us from picking up that can of soda.

    I also want to add that it's not exactly something we did intentionally to ourselves. I grew up in a house that always had huge portions, you always got seconds, and always had a dessert after and then a snack before bed. We were also made to finish all our meals before we were allowed to leave the table. This created lifelong habits that are extremely difficult to break through.

    Some people gain due to depression

    Some people gain due to medication

    Some people gain due to injuries

    There are so many factors and I don't believe for one minute that we made ourselves fat intentionally.

    To the op, I have been fat my entire life and so I will have excess skin but I'm going to start lifting weights to burn as much fat as possible and see what happens in about 2 years time. Most NHS hospitals won't cover the surgery here either but it can be upsetting to see so many patients having a GB and then regaining the weight. I made a choice to get healthy by tracking in MFP and working out like crazy and there is a part of me that feels I'm owed a tummy tuck but then I see the bigger picture....I don't care about the skin anymore, I feel amazing for losing all this weight and I'm going to live longer for it.
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
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    The UK NHS only pays for plastic surgery if you say not having big boobs prevents you from realizing your dream of becoming a model even if your face is a train wreck.

    Medical insurance should never cover anything that is not medically necessary. The fact that so many non-medically necessary medications and procedures are now mandated has only only driven up costs for everyone.

    A lot of people live with various degrees of dissatisfaction with their appearance. In the free market one can shop around and choose options which suit their needs and budget or adapt to the hand your are dealt.

    If someone wants to start a charity that earmarks those who have lost a lot of weight, great. But this is not something that we should all be forced to pay for through higher taxes or higher insurance premiums.

    I don't expect anyone else to pay what I did to my body through my own choices. Nobody forced me to down Doritos a bag at a time. I did that on my own.

    BTW, if insurance ever did start covering this type of surgery the cost would skyrocket as it always does when somebody else pays.
  • mattschwartz01
    mattschwartz01 Posts: 566 Member
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    This sounds harsh and maybe it is but the saddest part to me is that anyone allows their body to get so overweight and stretched that you need to have pounds of skin removed. Maybe put pictures on chip and soda cans of naked people with saggy skin like they do pictures on cigarette packages. I can understand insurance not paying for something you intentionally did to yourself.

    It saddens me to read such insensitive and indelicate words. Obesity is not as simple as this poster claims it to be. There are often other issues surrounding the person's condition. Most people who post on here want and receive encouragement. I'm sorry to say but posts like these contribute nothing of value to anyone else in the community. Sometimes opinions such as these are best kept to yourself.
  • HikeThatMountain
    HikeThatMountain Posts: 102
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    Thank you Cherrypie for posting the pictures, that is very encouraging.

    And if anyone is able to help out a burn victum, that would be a really nice thing to do.


    Do you know why they like to use the underarm skin (bat wings) as opposed to say 'abdominal tissue)?


    Oh, just thought too. Cherrypie, when they removed the excess, did they tell you how much it weighted, if you don't mind me asking, I'm just curious, thinking that if someone has excess skin after loosing a lot of weight, how much it is adding to their overall weight? Is it a very substantial amount (not that it matters, once down, I assume we are healthy weight-wise, with or without the excess.
  • 99cherrypie99
    99cherrypie99 Posts: 205 Member
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    Thank you Cherrypie for posting the pictures, that is very encouraging.

    And if anyone is able to help out a burn victum, that would be a really nice thing to do.


    Do you know why they like to use the underarm skin (bat wings) as opposed to say 'abdominal tissue)?


    Oh, just thought too. Cherrypie, when they removed the excess, did they tell you how much it weighted, if you don't mind me asking, I'm just curious, thinking that if someone has excess skin after loosing a lot of weight, how much it is adding to their overall weight? Is it a very substantial amount (not that it matters, once down, I assume we are healthy weight-wise, with or without the excess.

    The skin plus the liposuction that they do totaled about 7 pounds.

    Jen

    jenhudsonmosher.blogspot.com
  • HikeThatMountain
    HikeThatMountain Posts: 102
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    Wow, thank you and thank you for the blog address :)
  • GamerLady
    GamerLady Posts: 359 Member
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    The UK NHS only pays for plastic surgery if you say not having big boobs prevents you from realizing your dream of becoming a model even if your face is a train wreck.

    Medical insurance should never cover anything that is not medically necessary. The fact that so many non-medically necessary medications and procedures are now mandated has only only driven up costs for everyone.

    A lot of people live with various degrees of dissatisfaction with their appearance. In the free market one can shop around and choose options which suit their needs and budget or adapt to the hand your are dealt.

    If someone wants to start a charity that earmarks those who have lost a lot of weight, great. But this is not something that we should all be forced to pay for through higher taxes or higher insurance premiums.

    I don't expect anyone else to pay what I did to my body through my own choices. Nobody forced me to down Doritos a bag at a time. I did that on my own.

    BTW, if insurance ever did start covering this type of surgery the cost would skyrocket as it always does when somebody else pays.

    I agree
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    Just remember that every surgery has risks. One can die from infection from having skin removed.

    That said: Removal of excess skin in some cases is certainly a health issue, not just cosmetic. However, I'm willing to live with my loose skin unless it does become a health problem. I've lost weight, I'm healthy and I feel great about myself. I don't have to look perfect.
  • maab_connor
    maab_connor Posts: 3,927 Member
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    One of my clients lost a lot of weight and she said she was having her skin removed for free at a local burn center hospital. Not sure if you have a burn center hospital near you but she went to the Shriners Burn Center hospital in Galveston , Texas.

    Im not sure if she went through with it but it maybe an option and a way to help a burn victim.

    Yes SOME burn centers will do this for you as long as you are donating that skin to burn victims. I don't know how good you'll look afterwards or how much they will remove. They can not take skin from areas that get infected often. Typically they like to take the fleshy under arm area..."bat wings" as us women call it. But contact a burn center and ask. Worst that could happen is they say no.

    this is pretty much what i was going to say. check with burn clinics, it's not like you're going to need the skin removed, and there are ppl who are in srs need.

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