New Zealand - Surgery costs and non surgical options for loose skin etc

xDaynarose
xDaynarose Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi!

I am looking to lose 40kgs (female, 5ft4, 95kgs, 27 yrs old)

I have carried weight a long time, being over weight but only this last year or two due to emotional eating turning to addiction I have gained 30kgs of that.

I am looking in to options others have had and treatments that have worked for the removal or non surgical help for excess skin I am most likely going to face due to how long, genetics, and previous weight loss implications.

I am in New Zealand so it would be beneficial to only have advice based here (maybe Australia as travel is not too expensive)

I would like to know your thoughts, what you have done, prices and procedures that have helped you to be able to change the excess skin from fat loss. I will be doing strength training etc to help control and tone it so please no need for exercise related options.

Yes I know I havent lost weight and dont see it yet, but I am very scared of this happening to the point I need to get educated for internal comfort of the road ahead... That doesnt mean sugar coat it either, I need the cold hard truths!

Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it.

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,389 Member
    40kg is quite a package, but not that much in the grans scheme of things, and you're young! There's a good chance that you might actually not get loose skin as skin has a tendency to adjust in younger people. It just takes time.
    I think, before considering surgery try to lose the weight slowly and not at the highest rate possible for you. Give your skin time to catch up with your new self. And possibly start lifting weights if that's currently possible in NZ. Of course you can't train skin, but training the muscles underneath will also be beneficial for your looks.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,897 Member
    I'm in the US so can just offer you my own experience - in my 30s, I lost 80 pounds without having loose skin. I lost it slowly, and exercised along the way, with a lot of body weight from yoga and regular weight lifting as well.

    People here have said they had loose skin when they first hit their goal weight, but after a year or two at goal it did tighten up.
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    I lost a lot of weight. I only have loose skin on my lower abdomen and my breasts, and one might argue that is due to the 3 pregnancies and almost 8 years of breastfeeding and not due to the obesity.
  • xX_PhoenixRising_Xx
    xX_PhoenixRising_Xx Posts: 622 Member
    Hi, I get what you're worried about, but please don't panic yet. I'm a Kiwi, I lost 70+ kg a few years back (and I've put some back on.) I was really worried about loose skin, particularly as I was in my late 30s, had been obese since childhood and had a full-term twin pregnancy while I was near my top weight (they were born one just under and one just over 3kg).

    When I was losing, I decided to lift weights to help with the extra skin - I figured that muscle would at least take up some of the space vacated by fat. It worked fairly well. I still had/have a bit of bat-wing, and there was obviously loose skin on my stomach, and a little on my thighs. But nothing that looked too shocking. I also had visible muscle - biceps, triceps, I once had a random guy tell me I looked "built" lol.

    I lost the weight over 2.5 years so that helped, and at my smallest was in a size 8 at 5"7. I was a 26 at my heaviest.

    So - lose weight slowly, lift weights if you can and try not to give a stuff what other people think. I always assumed I would need skin-removal surgery, but I think even if I get back from a size 14 that I am now to the 8, I won't bother.
  • AndreaTamira
    AndreaTamira Posts: 272 Member
    I agree with others that you should not worry too much about this right now. And also about slow weight loss, lifting, giving your skin time to catch up after weight loss, etc.

    That said, I can give you at least one number on how much skin removal procedures might cost, as I have a family member who had some. My partner's mum (Auckland based) had loose skin at the stomach and arms removed. That cost about $26 000 altogether.
  • whoami67
    whoami67 Posts: 297 Member
    I wouldn't think loose skin would be an issue unless you were losing hundreds of pounds and were quite a bit older than you are. The most I've lost is about 70 lbs in my mid 40s and I didn't have any loose skin so it seems odd to me that someone in her 20s would have such an issue while losing only a few lbs more than that.

    I guess if you are that worried, you could lose about 20 lbs at a time and then maintain for a couple months in between bouts of losing to let the skin adjust.

Categories