It is a major accomplishment to lose 100 pounds or more. Our Scottsdale, AZ board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Carlos Mata, believes that after major weight loss patients can successfully transform their skin with weight loss reconstructive surgery. When the body loses weight rapidly, the skin sometimes has difficulty shrinking back and becomes very loose. This is very common on the abdomen, neck, upper arms, thighs, buttocks, and breasts. After weight loss surgery or weight loss from diet and exercise, a combination of procedures can be performed to remove the excess skin and shape/ contour your new body. Dr. Mata, a.k.a. Dr. Scottsdale® can discuss incision types and the different surgery options for you.
Condition Treated
Weight loss patients often realize the need for skin removal surgery when the following conditions become evident as they near their goal weight: sagging breasts, loose folds, hanging skin, fat pockets, excessive wrinkling, and sagging skin around the entire body. “Batwings” (loose skin on the arms), and “Turtleneck” (loose skin around the neck) can also be improved with specific surgeries.
Surgeries Recommendations After Major Weight Loss
After a major weight loss, it is ideal to trim down excess skin resulting in a tighter and firmer appearance. Here are the examples of surgeries:
- Breast: Breast Lift, and Breast Reduction. The goal is to treat saggy breasts by repositioning and/or removing the breast tissue to give the patient a younger-looking breast.
- Arms: Arm lift. This procedure removes the extra loose skin on the arms.
- Abdomen: Vaser liposuction is usually combined with a no drain tummy tuck (regular or Fleur De Lis) to remove excess fat (if any), and extra skin.
- Legs: Thigh lift, and Knee Lift.
- Lower body: Butt lift, Lower body lift, and Safer Brazilian Butt lift.
Specific Surgeries For After Weight Loss
LOWER BODY LIFT
The procedure is actually a 360° treatment to improve the appearance of the lower body for patients who have had a major weight loss. A lower body lift aka belt lipectomy is a combination of a tummy tuck & butt lift. The incision is made around the belt area surrounding the entire lower torso. The loose, and saggy skin will be trimmed away and the remaining skin will be lifted and secured by sutures. The procedure is performed in our Scottsdale, AZ office under deep sedation. While a body lift leaves the body tighter and smoother, scarring is unavoidable. The scar will run around the torso. We offer scar treatments to help reduce its appearance.
FLEUR DE LIS TUMMY TUCK
The Fleur De Lis Tummy Tuck is different from a regular tummy tuck because the incision is more extensive, as well as the amount of skin removed. This procedure is great for patients that have excess skin all over their torso. The fleur de lis incision includes the traditional tummy incision, horizontal from hip bone to hip bone; and one vertical; from the middle of the breast bone to the pubic area. It’s an inverted “T” incision across the torso. It is designed to remove a significant amount of excess skin from the entire torso. The muscle and diastasis recti will be fixed during that procedure.
PANNICULECTOMY
This procedure involves the surgical removal of excess skin that hangs down over a person’s genitalia or thighs. This material is normally referred to as pannus as it is composed of a dense layer of fatty tissues and normally results from major weight gain. At some level, the panniculus becomes extremely large reaching the knees, making people experience difficulties when maintaining personal hygiene around their genitalia. Two incisions are made right above the pubic area across the hip bone. Then the excess and hanging fat tissue may be removed surgically, and the remaining tissues are smoothed into pleasing contours. The abdominal muscles are not being repaired during this procedure. It’s for skin removal purposes only!
BRA ROLL
The Bra Roll procedure removes the excess fat and skin along the bra line to create a smoother, and natural-looking contour. The incision is made across the entire back along the bra line. The surgery can be combined with liposuction if needed. The goal is to give the patient a smoother back by removing the excess skin.
Staging Surgery for Safety Reasons or/and High BMI
Staging surgery, meaning having more than one surgery, is recommended for safety reasons. Multiple surgeries can be combined together but sometimes it is necessary to do it at separate times:
- Surgery time exceeding 8 hours (anesthesia safety)
- Recovery being too complicated. For example, arm lift, thigh lift and a tummy tuck will make recovery challenging for walking and functioning normally.
- Liposuction Safety Limits. If more than 5 liters of fat need to be removed to achieve your goals and expectations.
- Nutritional & Vitamin Deficiency
Recovery After Weight Loss Surgery
After weight loss surgery is considered a major operation in which the patient is put under deep sedation in our Scottsdale, AZ office. The number of hours it takes to complete this surgery varies, based on what procedure is done. For many patients, the recovery varies between one and two weeks, but 6 weeks before exercising.
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After Weight Loss Surgery
Ideal Timing?
Before moving forward with this procedure, patients should be at or near their goal weight. Sometimes, removing loose skin helps accelerate weight loss. This is the case when loose skin gets in the way of the patient’s daily physical activities.
Will insurance cover the cost?
Insurance companies, for the most part, will not cover the expenses associated with cosmetic surgery. However, coverage does vary and sometimes may apply to weight loss patients where loose skin becomes a medical problem. Our office does not accept insurance.
