Loose skin, immediately after weight loss versus 2+ years later?
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batorkin
Posts: 281 Member
I've recently lost 90 pounds and i've been maintaining for about a month. While I don't have any dangling skin or major problems when standing upright, my skin is still far from tight. While doing push ups, my stomach hangs. While laying on my side, my skin tends to go to one side of my body which looks weird. I am slim but at the same time, very flabby to the touch. I am not sure if I should lower my expectations.
How much does loose skin fix itself after a year or two of maintaining weight? Can I expect major changes?
How much does loose skin fix itself after a year or two of maintaining weight? Can I expect major changes?
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Replies
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I lost 50 pounds 3-4 years ago, and my skin is still flabby on stomach, thighs and upper arms. Maybe age has something to do with it, I'm 47. I don't allow it to bother me too much, because it's only visible in certain positions.0
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I have to say congratulations on such an amazing loss. Fantastic result. Loose skin is tough to deal with and it depends how bad it is. My belly has loose skin from childbirth and no amount of exercise has fixed this. There are ways to help though. Some say body brushing and oil can help stimulate the skin etc improving elasticity, you can take certain vitamins and capsules designed to help with things like this. Then there’s thinks like a derma roller treatment which starts getting more costly. Finally there’s a tummy tuck designed to tighten. If you have no hanging skin it would be classified as the smaller of three operation tightening options. I definitely think you should give the body brushing and oil with it a go first along with taking vitamins and look into a derma roller a bit further down the line if you don’t start seeing improvement. Xx6
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It will depend on a lot of factors - your genetics, your age, how long you were overweight, your general skin condition/elasticity, etc. There's no way to reliably say how much it will tighten up, or how fast/slow it will happen, it varies from person to person.
Dry brushing, supplements and gadgets you can buy in the stores are a waste of time and will do nothing to tighten up loose skin. They're all scams and the only thing they'll "tighten up" is your wallet.6 -
Actually my sister works in the cosmetic surgery industry and she swears by the benefits of dry brushing daily. It’s super cheap to. A brush for a £5 and oil another £5. Hardly robbing you of hard earned cash...Done right it does well for your skin.5
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I've recently lost 90 pounds and i've been maintaining for about a month. While I don't have any dangling skin or major problems when standing upright, my skin is still far from tight. While doing push ups, my stomach hangs. While laying on my side, my skin tends to go to one side of my body which looks weird. I am slim but at the same time, very flabby to the touch. I am not sure if I should lower my expectations.
How much does loose skin fix itself after a year or two of maintaining weight? Can I expect major changes?
Congrats on the loss!
How old are you?
I have read here fairly often that skin has tightened up after a year or two.
Are you working out?0 -
Dry brushing (like most topical programs) only affects the epidermis and does NOTHING for the dermis itself. To LESSEN the actual tissue, it actually has to be removed.rekrapetak wrote: »Actually my sister works in the cosmetic surgery industry and she swears by the benefits of dry brushing daily. It’s super cheap to. A brush for a £5 and oil another £5. Hardly robbing you of hard earned cash...Done right it does well for your skin.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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rekrapetak wrote: »I have to say congratulations on such an amazing loss. Fantastic result. Loose skin is tough to deal with and it depends how bad it is. My belly has loose skin from childbirth and no amount of exercise has fixed this. There are ways to help though. Some say body brushing and oil can help stimulate the skin etc improving elasticity, you can take certain vitamins and capsules designed to help with things like this. Then there’s thinks like a derma roller treatment which starts getting more costly. Finally there’s a tummy tuck designed to tighten. If you have no hanging skin it would be classified as the smaller of three operation tightening options. I definitely think you should give the body brushing and oil with it a go first along with taking vitamins and look into a derma roller a bit further down the line if you don’t start seeing improvement. Xx
if you could improve elasticity then many people would not get stretch marks either,you can use all the products in the world to try and prevent them but that doesnt mean you wont get them. derma rollers hurt like hell and can cause infection,tears and so on. they dont do anything(trust me Ive tried) they are said to improve collagen production again BS.dry brushing is said to help increase circulation which heck you can do that with massage. but theres no proof it help with loose skin(its supposed to help break down cellulite which is not the same as loose/hanging skin) or anything else1 -
I know the belly hang in plank position is super common. Probably most people have it past a certain age. I just make sure I don't look down when I'm in a plank. LOL3
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It makes a difference whether the layer is just skin, or has a layer of subcutaneous fat still weighing it down, in my experience.
Places where I had just loose skin (thin wrinkles, like wrinkles in fabric) it kept shrinking well into year 2 of maintenance, and is mostly gone (I'm at the beginning of year 3), even at age 60 (when I reached goal) to 62 (now). This is TMI, but my rear looked like a bulldog's face's when I first reached goal, and is no worse now than any other li'l ol' lady who's always been my weight and is equally active, as far as I can tell.
Places where I still have thicker rolls or wrinkles, like 1/2" plus, haven't shrunk much. So, I get some belly hang when doing planks, too, because there's still some squishy fat under that skin. (I suspect I could theoretically lose it, and have that skin shrink too, but I'd have to get down to a weight that wouldn't be that good a plan for my overall body.)
Others' experience will differ, but that's been mine.6 -
It makes a difference whether the layer is just skin, or has a layer of subcutaneous fat still weighing it down, in my experience.
Places where I had just loose skin (thin wrinkles, like wrinkles in fabric) it kept shrinking well into year 2 of maintenance, and is mostly gone (I'm at the beginning of year 3), even at age 60 (when I reached goal) to 62 (now). This is TMI, but my rear looked like a bulldog's face's when I first reached goal, and is no worse now than any other li'l ol' lady who's always been my weight and is equally active, as far as I can tell.
Places where I still have thicker rolls or wrinkles, like 1/2" plus, haven't shrunk much. So, I get some belly hang when doing planks, too, because there's still some squishy fat under that skin. (I suspect I could theoretically lose it, and have that skin shrink too, but I'd have to get down to a weight that wouldn't be that good a plan for my overall body.)
Others' experience will differ, but that's been mine.
I’m happy to hear this. My upper thighs have very loose, thin skin with no fat under. I’ve lost 72 lbs and am hoping to see my skinny legs not look so flabby. It’s a bummer to have slim legs that are so deflated looking, but I will take that over being over inflated. Lol2 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I've recently lost 90 pounds and i've been maintaining for about a month. While I don't have any dangling skin or major problems when standing upright, my skin is still far from tight. While doing push ups, my stomach hangs. While laying on my side, my skin tends to go to one side of my body which looks weird. I am slim but at the same time, very flabby to the touch. I am not sure if I should lower my expectations.
How much does loose skin fix itself after a year or two of maintaining weight? Can I expect major changes?
Congrats on the loss!
How old are you?
I have read here fairly often that skin has tightened up after a year or two.
Are you working out?
I'm 31 and was overweight from age 17-25 or so, and got obese around 25+. I am now smack middle of normal BMI.
I do work out, I try for daily but sometimes I get too sore.It makes a difference whether the layer is just skin, or has a layer of subcutaneous fat still weighing it down, in my experience.
There is still fat in all my saggy parts. I don't have any thin layers of wrinkled skin like I see in loose skin videos. Ideally I need to lose another 2 inches off my gut before it'd be flat but that last bit is being very stubborn even on a very good diet and daily exercise. I lost an inch in about a month. I'm 6'1" and 165 pounds already, which seems awfully low for a male, so I started focusing more on building muscle.
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