If you’re someone who has just lost a large amount of weight – congratulations! We understand it takes a lot of time, effort, and patience to lose weight, but after a massive weight loss, many people are left with loose skin, stretch marks, or surgical scars. It can be even more frustrating to remain uncomfortable with your body even after your weight loss journey. That’s why the team at Dr. York Yates Plastic Surgery is committed to helping weight loss patients get rid of excess skin and achieve their true body aesthetic goals.
Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty) After Weight Loss
A tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, is a great procedure for helping to get rid of excess skin or stretch marks on the stomach area. However, a tummy tuck targeted for weight loss patients is slightly different than its traditional procedure. Because of the massive weight loss, the skin on the upper hips extending around to the back is often excessive, requiring a total body lift. Dr. Yates prefers to separate this into two procedures. Separating is often safer, and the abdomen can be tightened much more significantly if done alone. The scar is often longer than a typical tummy tuck, and sometimes a vertical midline scar is helpful to tighten the skin horizontally.
Arm Lift (Brachioplasty) After Weight Loss
Losing weight in your arms may leave you with loose skin on the upper arms. This excess skin can be removed with a brachioplasty operation. The procedure will involve tightening sagging skin and supportive tissue, reshaping the arm, and providing a contour to the upper arms as it connects to the patient’s chest. Some light scarring may result from this procedure, but these scares are often unnoticeable or well hidden due to arm motion.
Breast Lift After Weight Loss
Breasts lose their volume after a major weight loss, especially in women. A mastopexy or breast lift operation can be used to lift and reshape the breasts and nipples into a position more natural to the patient’s body in their new weight. Excess skin is removed, and the breast is rounded for a more youthful, less droopy look, enhancing your existing silhouette. Many patients desire breast implants to restore lost breast volume as well.
Thigh Lift After Weight Loss
The outer thighs and inner thighs are often loose and droopy after weight loss. The inner thighs tighten with an inner thigh lift with a scar in the groin crease adjacent to the pubic region. The buttock, outer thighs, and posterior thighs improve with a posterior thigh lift. The scar is in the bikini line from hip to hip above the buttocks. Many plastic surgeons combine this with a tummy tuck (total body lift). Dr. Yates prefers to stage these into separate operations for safety and to optimize the outcome of both.
Facelift After Weight Loss
The skin on the face is also prone to droopiness after weight loss. It can often deflate and leave patients looking a bit more “sunken in” or “older” than how they would normally look. Luckily, a facelift procedure will remove the excess, droopy skin and restore soft, facial tissue at the same time, leaving patients looking more their natural age. Sometimes, patients prefer to combine facelifts with fat grafting to add youthful volume to the face.
Combined Vs. Staged Procedures
The main advantage of combining plastic surgery weight loss procedures is targeting more than one area of the body that needs lifting at one time. The advantages of staging the procedures are safety and improved results. Whether to combine or stage procedures is always a balance of effectiveness, costs, and safety. Dr. Yates is committed to discussing with each patient which type of procedure would be best for them.
The Cost of Reconstruction After Weight Loss Surgery
Reconstruction after weight loss often requires multiple surgical sites and staged procedures. As a result, this is one of the most costly types of cosmetic plastic surgery. We are transparent with our procedure costs. To learn more, click here.