POST WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY IN NEWPORT BEACH
BODY CONTOURING AFTER LOSING WEIGHT
Massive weight loss, through surgical or non-surgical procedures, is a significant achievement and the foundation to a healthier, happier life. Following bariatric surgeries, patients feel and look better, yet excess hanging can still affect your comfort and self image. The loose and sagging skin exists in areas such as the arms, breasts, thighs, faces, abdomen, and
buttocks. The elasticity of your skin will greatly influence the need for contouring after weight loss. With body contouring, we can improve the shape of the skin but we cannot improve the quality of the skin. Often times a staged approach, planned future surgeries, are required to minimize risk and maximize the final result.
Our post weight loss procedures can help you:
- Look Better, Feel Better
- Improve Shape of Skin
- Provide a Staged Approach to Minimize Risk and Maximize Results
Excess hanging skin can generate hygiene problems, decrease mobility, make daily tasks difficult and create discomfort, often in the form of rashes or sores and prevent many forms of exercise. This sagging skin can be removed through body contouring plastic surgery procedures that help weight loss patients achieve a new positive body image.
CANDIDATES FOR POST WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY
- Patients who have recently experienced loss of a large amount of weight through procedures such as gastric banding or bypass surgery, stomach stapling, bariatric surgery, lap band surgery, or non surgical methods such as diet or exercise.
- Candidates have maintained a stable weight for an extended period of time, approximately 12 to 18 months, and do not expect further weight loss, as a result of the previous surgical procedure. During this stabilization period, the skin will shrink as much as possible in preparation for the body contouring procedures.
- Candidates should be in good health and maintain a nutritional diet during the year following weight loss surgery. Candidates should not smoke during the 6 weeks prior to surgery and are urged not to recover the habit following surgery as smoking will increase risk of complications and slow the healing process.
- Candidates should also have reasonable expectations for the results of the body contouring procedures.
PROCEDURES
Body Contouring patients have a variety of procedures available to assist in the removal of excess skin and restore a shapelier contour. Generally, multiple procedures will be performed to address different areas of the body, and this may occur through a series of operations over an extended period of time. Whenever possible, we try to accomplish as much as is safely possible and perform most surgeries in less than 6-8 hours maximum.
Pacific Center for Plastic Surgery considers itself a center for excellence in post bariatric, maximum weight loss, cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. This is important as our focus of interest, using a team approach (using a dedicated surgical assistant and at times both Dr. Nichter and Dr. Horowitz will operate together to minimize complications and operative times and to share their collective operative experience and judgment. Depending on the selected procedures, some may be performed at the same time in either an “upper body lift” (arms, breasts, face) or “lower body lift” (abdomen, thighs, buttocks). The specific procedures necessary are to be determined on a case-by-case basis; the patient will discuss the areas of concern with Dr. Nichter and Dr. Horowitz to develop an individualized and efficient surgical plan, allowing the primary areas of distress to be addressed first.
Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty)/Panniculectomy
Belt lipectomy/Circumferential body lift
Breasts
Gynecomastia
Arm Lift (Brachioplasty)
Facelift
Buttocks and Thigh Lift
Liposuction
Upper body lift
WHAT TO EXPECT AFTER SURGERY
Procedures may require touch-up operations at a later time. Although, the body contouring procedures will remove large amounts of excess skin, patients should know that the skin will continue to sag over time due to normal aging. In general, most surgical procedures will leave long scars. These may fade to white or widen and stay red for lengthy periods of time. Scars can sometimes be improved with topical medication or lasers but will never be gone. This is usually considered a worthwhile trade-off by most patients to remove all of the hanging skin and fat. Specific procedures are listed below but there are many variations from the standard methods used for non weight loss patients. These different methods will vary depending upon the patient’s sex, previous surgeries, combinations of contouring procedures, the location and amount of loose skin and placement of incisions to get the best possible result.
A CUSTOMIZED APPROACH
In general, the techniques used in body contouring surgery have grown and improved over the last several years in response to the large number of patients who have had massive weight loss. It is one of the fastest growing areas of our practice at Pacific Center for Plastic Surgery. Updated and innovative methods that adjust treatment according to body type are creating improved results and enhancing the shape of patients’ bodies. With massive weight loss in a short period of time, skin does not retain its shape, leaving the patient with excess, baggy skin. Also, patients lose different amounts of body fat before the weight loss plateaus, leaving them either thin, moderate or still heavy often times in an asymmetric manner. A carefully planned, individualized approach is often the difference between an acceptable result and a great result and is dependent on your surgeon’s experience.
Effectively mapping incisions before surgery as well as using a combination of new and current shaping techniques leads to the most successful surgeries for moderate to larger body shapes.
Some of our happiest patients are those who have undergone Plastic Surgery after significant weight loss and this reflects other Centers for Excellence. For example, the vast majority of patients who participated in a recent study at the University of Pittsburgh are extremely pleased with the end result. It was reported that 39 of the 40 patients in this study rated the outcome of their surgery very good or excellent. We hope you are able to take advantage of your potential new shape through post bariatric plastic surgery as well.