Interesting Question

Once it's stretched, it's stretched. I wish it was as easy as throwing our skin in the dryer like a stretched out shirt and having it go back to normal! lol

I put this up a few months ago; but I'll put it up again for you. :-)

I copied this post from a NBC Biggest Loser Message Board; posted by a doctor in regards to loose skin.


Having dealt with the excess skin issues w/patients over the past five years, these have been my observations:

If you have less than 50-80 pounds to lose and have been relatively "good" w/ things like smoking, tanning, hydration or drinking...you can expect your skin to contract pretty decently. If you're a perfectionist and want wash board abs and zero lovehandles...you might need some work...but it'll be nothing excessive.

If you put the weight on slowly and were overweight for a shorter duration, you can also expect to have decent skin contraction...

Both of these factors are two big reasons why younger people can expect better contraction...

Further, one thing often never mentioned is height. People who are taller are simply blessed in that they have more surface area to store fat in comparison to people of shorter stature who put on the same weight. Ex: a 5'7 woman who weighs 250 and loses it will have better contraction than a 5'2 woman who is also 250 and loses the same amount of weight. It's a factor....

Cocoa butter and other creams as well as compression garments also help.

If you have more than 80+ pounds to lose, sorry to say but there are going to be loose skin issues. The skin can only take so much for so long...

If you've carried the weight for a long duration...anything more than 10 years or so...you will most likely have loose skin as well...

If you've lost and regained a lot of weight repeatedly, "yo-yo", than you will most likely have loose skin issues...also why repeated preganancies make loose skin progressively worse in addition to the rapid weight gain.

If you abused alcohol, smoked a lot or suntanned frequently....you might have loose skin issues, or you might not depending on the amount of weight....stop those things before embarking on weight loss...

How fast you lose the weight does NOT matter. Jillian has commented on this as well and stated the frequency of weight loss makes no big difference. She is correct. If your skin is damaged, it's damaged..that's all there is to it. Gastric bypass and liposuction are extreme exceptions to this rule...but those two things ( which are ridiculously rapid) aside, how fast the weight comes off is not an issue for people losing it naturally...

Finally genetics plays a BIG role. While people from almost ALL ethnic groups can expect loose skin after crossing a certain weight threshold...under that threshold genetics makes a difference. Asian people as well as caucasians with intermediate complexions ( Mediterraneans, Latinos, Middle Easterners, etc.) can expect better results from their skin. Perhaps it is because that skin tone range allows for adequate absorbtion of Vitamin D while also protecting the skin from burning...whatever the exact reason, their skin tends to hold up better, even as they age. Northern European Caucasians and people of African descent are more prone to skin problems......there are ofcourse exceptions...

As to how long it takes skin to contract....Dr. H is playin' it ultra safe. 1 year is excessive...you'll know how well your skin has healed by 6 months...

There are ofcourse exceptions to ALL of these things I've listed, but they are exactly that: exceptions. As a rule of thumb, they're pretty much the norm...

If skin is damaged, it won't snap back. If it's not damaged and you lose fast, you may lose faster than the skin contracts but it will continue to contract once you get to goal. Some people experience their skin contracting as long as a year after they stop losing.

Compression garments, skin creams and skin treatments can only give a temporary improvement to the skin. Once you stop using them, the skin goes back to whatever state it would have been in, if you hadn't used them. (I.E., if your skin has been contracting all this time, it will go back to a smaller place than when you started, but, if had contracted as much as it's going it, it will go right back to the way it was before)

I have excess skin but I look pretty damn good in clothes. Even naked, I look way better than I did at 223 pounds. Also, I have a lot of muscle definition. The only thing that bugs me is that I have loose skin on my arms and, at rest, they can get all wrinkly. That freaks me out a bit. My thighs are a bit wrinkly too, but not where anyone can see them.

I'll probably get plastic surgery at some point, though, and get as much loose skin cut off as I can without having too many scars.