How Much Does a Lap Band Cost and Does it Work?

Lap band is a surgical procedure that places a band around your stomach to decrease the amount of food that can enter into your stomach. Once in place, the band can be filled or unfilled thru a permanent port in your body. This is a major life long surgical procedure. A friend of mine had it done, and had lots of issues due to it. Food will get stuck on top of the band, and you will have to throw up to get the food out.

It's not something to go into lightly. It is just as risky as gastic bypass surgery.

This isn't exactly true. It has some threads of truth, but the lapband is much more easily reversed - it still requires surgery, but going in and removing it takes about 15 minutes or so. It's like a belt around the stomach with a port and tube. The port is attached just under the skin, to allow the surgeon to inject saline into the band, inflating it like a balloon around the stomach, and reducing the opening for food to pass through.

they do not cut your stomach or reroute it, so it's not nearly as risky. the band can be placed in 15 minutes on average, and can be reversed just as quickly. It's a less risky approach, but also has a higher failure rate. though Failure is a relative term. If a person understands what it is meant to do, and accepts that you STILL have to watch what you eat and exercise to lose weight, then success is more likely. Too many people opt to have this done without really understanding what it does or how it works.

imagine putting a belt around your stomach and in essence creating a funnel effect. if you hold a funnel, with the bottom of it having a small opening, basically you are restricting the food flow out of the stomach part above the funnel to the lower part. this forces the food to stay in the upper portion longer, in contact with the nerves that tell you you are full.

the downside, is that the food STILL has to pass through the funnel, so if you don't chew the food VERY VERY VERY well, it can get STUCK. and can be VERY VERY PAINFUL Imagine being in a meeting with peers, and all of a sudden the lunch you just ate, a piece wasn't chewed well, and now it's stuck. your body doesn't know how to handle this. You're not "CHOKING" but your system knows something is wrong, so your eyes start watering, your nose starts running, your mouth starts producing more saliva - in your body's attempt to DISLODGE what is unnaturally stuck. Your face gets red, and all that extra saliva you are now producing, has NO WHERE TO GO. you can't swallow it. Why? because the pathway is BLOCKED. it's a stopped up funnel. your only option is to get it out. So out of your meeting you go, to the bathroom, to "PB" or "Productive burp". It's kind of like throwing up, but not exactly. You go back to your meeting, and resign yourself to liquids for the rest of the day, because you have now irritated your pouch/band/opening, and it's swollen, further closing the small opening.

Now lets just say that your lunch that you ate was a healthy chicken salad. the chicken was what got stuck. This opening you have, the size of a straw, only accepts foods chewed very well - OR - foods that break down easily, like ICE CREAM, COOKIES, CHOCOLATE, CHIPS, JUNK. Any of those foods, are easily broken down and dissolved, and pass right through the opening. Also, you may find yourself slathering chicken or meat with ketchup or mayo (high calorie condiments) to lubricate it so it goes down easier. If you understand the dynamics and what this is meant to do - control portion sizes, force you to eat slowly and chew very well, so that you end up eating less -but only less calories if you eat healthy foods - which contradictorily are harder to get down - then yes it works.. It truly is only a portion control tool. and you will find there will be foods you may never be able to eat again - unfortunately those won't be the junk. Things you may not be able to eat, apples, or high fiber fruits or veggies. Eggs, some meat - definitely any dry food items or dryer meats - bread is a no-no for some.

It's not as dangerous as the bypass, but not nearly as successful because of the issues. Additionally, the sad part about it is, that if you learn about food and calories and how to make it work, you will be more successful at losing AND keeping it off, than you will ever be with the band. There are a handful of people that do well with it. But It doesn't behave the same in everyone's body (things like fluid retention, scar tissue, etc etc will affect how tight the band is or stays, and that varies person to person), so not everyone has the same results. Add in the fact that everyone has different eating habits, so some people will have better success because they eat better normally and just need to control how MUCH. For them, it's probably better.

I'd say don't do it. I had it done WAY before probably 90% of the people on here. the most I dropped with it was 40 lbs, and that was largely due to the liquid diet i was on after, while i waited for it to heal. I've had it probably 9 years now or close to it. Had complications with it, had it unfilled close to 2 years ago, and gained back ALL but 4 pounds of my weight. I started seeing a personal trainer, joined MFP, and lost 57 lbs WITHOUT the band. It's a useless piece of hardware in me, and I'm faced with leaving it, or opting for surgery to have it out. I did gain back about 15 lbs over the holidays (in about 6 weeks!) and am working to take that back off STILL but it's a process. I at least KNOW what I need to do now, and I all but regret having it done all those years ago, and wasting all that money. The only thing is, had I not done it, I may have continued to gain weight unstoppably, and ended up I don't know where. I DO regret not looking into a personal trainer, and figuring out the whole calorie balance thing long before now. Learning that you can lose weight eating 1800 or even 2000 calories a day, instead of the 1200 calorie a day misconception. It's all relative. Burn more than you eat, and you will lose. Burn a lot more than you eat you will lose faster.

I wouldn't do it. I've been out 9 years, and learned the hard way, it's a waste of time and money. Good luck in your decision!