Surgery Following Weight Loss
Following significant weight loss, including that achieved by diet, exercise, gastric bypass, or gastric banding, there are often significant areas of skin excess. This commonly includes excess skin of the abdomen, breasts, arms, and thighs. These areas can be addressed with many different options, including abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), breast lift or reduction, upper arm lift, thigh lift and body lift. Other procedures including liposuction and facelift may also be of benefit.
With massive weight loss in a short time, skin often does not shrink well. Body contouring surgery can help deal with this extra skin and give such individuals a new image after losing weight.
Abdominoplasty, more commonly known as a ‘tummy tuck’, is an operation to remove excess skin and fat from the abdomen. In addition, the muscles of the abdominal wall are tightened by means of internal stitching. An abdominoplasty is usually performed under general anaesthesia and often requires an overnight stay in hospital. The operation results in scars around the navel and a long low scar from hip to hip. In some patients a vertical scar in the midline may also be necessary.
The recovery period is dependent on the individual and varies between 2 to 4 weeks for initial recovery, and up to 9 months for the flattening and lightening of scars.
Weight loss can leave extra skin hanging between the elbow and shoulder. An arm lift or brachioplasty addresses the skin in the upper arms. The operation results in scars extending from the armpit to the elbow, along the inside of the arm.
A thigh lift can help reduce excess skin and fat around the thighs. An inner thigh lift will result in scars over the inner thigh, and in the groin crease. An outer thigh lift will result in scars extending from the groin around the back.
These operations are usually performed under a general anaesthetic. The recovery period may last between 2 to 4 weeks.
Following weight loss, the breasts often lose their shape and firmness and begin to sag (ptosis). Small amounts of ptosis can be corrected by an implant alone. More significant amounts of ptosis require the loose skin to be removed. The operation is referred to as a Breast Uplift or Mastopexy.
A Breast Reduction is performed to remove fat, glandular tissue, and skin from the breasts, making smaller, lighter, and better-shaped breasts which are in proportion with the rest of the body.
Both operations result in a scar around the nipple-areola, and possibly (depending on the amount of skin removed) vertically down from the areola and horizontally along the crease under the breast.
These operations are usually performed under general anaesthesia and often require an overnight stay in hospital. The recovery period may last from 2-4 weeks.
Male breast excess is corrected by an operation known as a Male Breast Reduction. Fat and/or glandular tissue is removed and, in some cases, excess skin as well, to give a flatter, firmer, better-contoured chest. The procedure can be performed by liposuction alone or liposuction in conjunction with surgery. In minor cases an incision is made in an inconspicuous location, either on the edge of the nipple-areola or in the under arm area. Major reductions that involve the removal of a significant amount of tissue and skin may require larger incisions that result in more conspicuous scars.
The operation can be performed under local anaesthetic with sedation or under general anaesthetic and may require an overnight stay in hospital. The recovery period may last from 2 to 4 weeks.
The combination of a tummy tuck, inner thigh lift and outer thigh/buttock lift is often referred to as a body lift. It is important to realize that this is a large operation which will result in extensive scars. In general, those with very loose saggy skin following significant weight loss are willing to accept the exchange of excess skin for contoured scars. The body lift is less worthwhile for those with a small amount of looseness.
The operation is performed under general anaesthesia and often requires a stay in hospital. The recovery period may last from 3 to 6 weeks, depending on the extent of the procedure.
Significant weight loss can accelerate aging of the face and lead to sagging of the facial skin and loss of volume from the mid face. A facelift is often combined with a neck lift to treat deep wrinkles and sagging skin. The face and neck are rejuvenated by removing the sagging skin and tightening the underlying facial muscles.
There are several options for facelifting. The decision as to which type of facelift is performed will depend on the anatomy of your face presently and the effect that weight loss and ageing has played on your facial appearance. The scars are usually well hidden, mostly within the hairline and around the ear.
The operation can be performed under local anaesthetic with sedation or general anaesthetic. The recovery period, may last from 2 to 4 weeks.
Liposuction is a technique used to remove unwanted fat deposits. It will not address excess skin and is best suited to removing localised deposits of fat from the face and neck, hips, tummy, waist and thighs. Liposuction can be used in combination with other procedures such as a tummy tuck to remove fat from the waistline. The procedure is performed through small (4mm) incisions, which usually heal to form fine, barely perceptible, scars. The recovery period is between 10 days to 3 weeks, depending on the areas treated.
|
