You have lost the weight and reduced your risk of disease, now visit a plastic surgeon in Escondido to continue your health journey. When you make a decision to become healthier by getting rid of excess pounds, eating better and engaging in a daily exercise routine, it can be frustrating to hit a roadblock. For many patients, this roadblock is in the form of sagging skin.
Why excess skin stays
After losing weight, many people are left with excess skin. This skin is found most commonly around the stomach, chest, and buttocks. The inner layer of skin is made up of collagen and elastin proteins that provide firmness, elasticity and a taut look. If the skin carries excess pounds for an extended period of time, the collagen and elastic fibers break and are no longer capable of retraction.
It is important to give the body time to adjust and the skin a chance to retract because, in some weight loss cases, the skin can rebound. Before considering surgery, try building muscle and reducing body fat percentage to ensure that the excess skin is really the issue. When nothing seems to get rid of the unwelcome, sagging skin, it is easy to become frustrated with a health journey and give up, reverting back to weight gain and poor habits. Do not sacrifice health because of this minor set back. Visiting a plastic surgeon in Escondido may be the key to jumping this hurdle.
How a plastic surgeon can help
There are many treatments and procedures available to reduce the presence of loose skin following weight loss. As mentioned previously, the stomach, chest, and buttocks are the most common areas people are unhappy with as these areas contain the largest fat stores prior to losing weight. Following is a list of common skin removal procedures, but not all of the options that might be available.
Face and neck lift: Neck contouring or facelift may reduce the appearance of excess skin under the chin and around the cheeks.
Upper body lift: An upper body lift can include the removal of upper arm skin, a breast lift or a back lift that removes excess skin from the middle back.
Lower body lift and thighplasty: These procedures will tighten the skin in the stomach, lower back, buttocks, and thighs.
Panniculectomy: This procedure is a form of abdominoplasty that removes the excess skin that hangs from the abdominal area following weight loss.
To be a candidate for these procedures, patients must be able to maintain a stable weight, refrain from smoking and heavy alcohol use, be in good general health and have realistic expectations of the outcomes. Also, we will conduct an examination before determining which of these procedures could help to accomplish the specific goals a patient has.
Visit our office
If you are unhappy with your excess skin following significant weight loss, there are many potential options to improve your appearance. Maintain your healthy lifestyle and schedule an appointment with a plastic surgeon in Escondido today to find out what your options are.