Losing weight can have glorious consequences. It can make you healthier, more comfortable and more confident. Not so glorious? It can leave you with loose skin because the underlying fat is no longer there to support it. At Eterna Cosmetic Surgery, Dr Hernandez helps patients of all ages and genders manage loose skin during and after weight loss.
While the abdomen is most susceptible to post-weight loss loose skin, but residual laxity can occur anywhere, especially the buttocks, arms, and legs. Younger individuals and those who have naturally more elastic skin may have fewer challenges with loose skin as they lose weight, but there are also other factors involved. For example, rapid weight gain can stretch skin beyond its ability to contract naturally when the weight is lost, and rapid weight loss can outpace the skin’s natural ability to contract.
If you are still losing weight
You don’t have to wait until you’re finished losing weight to think about skin conditioning. In fact, there are good reasons to make periodic skin tightening or body contouring improvements along the way, whether you’re losing weight by traditional means or you have undergone gastric bypass surgery and are starting to see resulting weight loss.
We offer several non-invasive and minimally-invasive treatment options that can help reduce skin laxity and improve shapeliness as you lose weight. After evaluating your specific situation, we can then discuss the best options for you. We may very well recommend a combination of treatments to achieve the best results, including Morpheus8, BodyTite, Liposuction and skin care products such as Neocutis that contain growth factors.
Once you have reached your weight goal
If your weight loss goal is not extensive – say around 20 pounds or so – skin tightening and/or body contouring may be all you need to put the finishing touch on your new shape once you’ve reached a stable weight.
However, severe excessive skin after massive weight loss typically requires surgical intervention. Dr. Elizabeth Hernandez specializes in post-bariatric skin surgery, using her extensive experience and skill in this field to produce optimal results according to each patient’s skin condition and aesthetic goals. In essence, this surgery involves removal of excess skin and then suturing the remaining skin to produce a smooth surface.
In most of these procedures, Dr. Hernandez also uses liposuction to re-contour remaining fat before trimming away the excess skin. This helps ensure final results will look natural as well as aesthetically pleasing.
Typically patients will need to undergo multiple surgeries to remove excess skin in all body areas, because studies show risks such as infection increase after 5 hours under anesthesia. Our focus is always on patient safety, so with multiple sessions we can limit anesthesia time to less than 5 hours.
Loose skin won’t magically disappear
If you have lost considerable or a massive amount of weight, you’re in the process of losing weight, or you’re getting ready to start a weight loss regimen or undergo bariatric surgery, there are things you can do to manage loose skin. At Eterna Cosmetic Surgery, we can help — with compassionate advice and a personalized treatment program to support your skin and your self-image as you work toward your ultimate goal.
