Procedures That Restore Your Body After Massive Weight Loss
August 21, 2022
If you’re someone who has lost a significant amount of weight or if you’re currently on a massive weight loss journey, first off, we are your biggest fans. We applaud you, congratulate you and if you’re still in it, we’re so rooting for you! You can do this!
We really do know how much determination and hard work—physical, mental and emotional—a massive weight loss journey entails. It’s a long road and at the end of it, you really want to see the version of you that you envisioned.
To some of you this may come as a surprise, but significant weight loss, especially if it’s in the range of having lost anywhere from 50-100 lbs, although such a tremendous feat, is often not the end of the road for many individuals. In many cases, you’ll find yourself left with excess and stretched skin that sags, loose tissue, or that the weight you shed may not have been lost evenly, in which case you may not be entirely satisfied with your new body proportions.
It may seem daunting to consider surgery following significant weight loss, but you deserve to have the body you worked so long and hard to achieve, and we’re here to help you make that happen.
Here are some of the procedures that can help restore your body after a massive weight loss journey.
Tummy Tuck
Typically following massive weight loss, what the body needs is some contouring and sculpting, so many of the procedures that restore the body following significant weight loss are called body contouring procedures.
The tummy tuck or abdominoplasty is one of the most common body contouring procedures that we perform for weight loss patients. If you’ve lost a lot of weight in the abdominal area, which is very common, the tummy tuck will remove excess skin, tighten the skin, as well as repair any damage that may have occurred to the muscles of the abdominal wall, also known as rectus diastasis, which is especially common in women following childbirth.
The tummy tuck will typically be paired with liposuction that will also remove any excess pockets of stubborn fat more resistant to diet and exercise.
In the right candidates, we’ve also been combining the tummy tuck with a semi-invasive procedure called BodyTite, which further shrinks and tightens skin tissue with radiofrequency (RF) treatment, while also stimulating the production of collagen to maintain that firm result.
Arm Lift
Many of the procedures that are performed after an individual has lost a lot of weight, contour and sculpt the body, but also give certain areas of the body a lift, where the skin significantly droops or sags.
The arms tend to be one such area. After significant weight loss you may find that your arms look flabby or not very proportional, or that the skin tissue has significantly weakened. The arm lift procedure removes fat and excess skin for a tightened and sculpted result.
Breast Lift
After significant weight loss the breasts may also sag or droop. The breast lift procedure reshapes and raises the breasts in order to give them a perkier and more youthful appearance. In some cases, implants can also be used to improve on the shape and size of the breasts.
Some weight loss patients are also concerned with stubborn pockets of fat and excess skin around the bra line or upper back. In order to tighten the skin in the area and remove any unwanted pockets of fat, your surgeon can also perform what’s called an upper back lift or “bra line lift.”
Buttock Lift
If your area of concern is the bum, then a buttock lift will be the procedure that improves the shape and firmness of the buttocks. This procedure typically involves removing excess skin and stubborn pockets of fat, but may also involve reshaping the bum with fat harvested from other areas of the body, such as the abdomen or thighs, and re-injecting into target areas of the buttocks, also known as the Brazilian butt lift (BBL).
For many weight loss patients the buttock lift is the perfect procedure as it can offer fat removal from parts of the body where you may want less and injects it into the bum, lifting and shaping it, while simultaneously contouring other parts of the body, and giving the body an overall more desirable proportional appearance.
Thigh Lift
The appearance of the thighs can also be a concern following significant weight loss, which is why a thigh lift can be an ideal procedure in reshaping and lifting the thighs, removing any excess skin and fat, resulting in firmer and sculpted thighs.
Facelift
The facelift is often the most surprising procedure on the list of procedures that can restore a body following significant weight loss. When you think about losing weight, you think about losing it in areas where fat is most likely to accumulate, such as around the abdomen, bum or thighs.
You rarely think about the face as transforming from massive weight loss, but it really can. And sometimes the weight loss can actually make an individual look gaunt or older than they actually are. There might be excess or sagging skin, or simply weak skin tissue and underlying facial muscles.
The facelift can therefore be a transformative procedure when it comes to restoring the face after significant weight loss, by tightening the skin as well as underlying facial muscles, and offering a smooth, youthful and renewed complexion.
Did we answer all your questions? Our goal is to ensure you have the best information possible to make your decision. If you still have questions, we’re here to help.