Our skin is a living organ, and it adapts to weight gain by expanding or stretching. Once that weight is gone, it can be impossible for the skin to revert to its original size.

As the saying goes, you can’t uncrack the egg.

But if you’ve lost a lot of weight, are you doomed to live your life with excess skin? Of course not. After all, weight loss surgery was designed to help people who have lost weight get their shape back.

If you are considering after weight loss surgery in Baton Rouge, read on.

We’ll answer all of your questions to help you know what to expect for the procedure.

Weight Loss is Just the First Step

We’ve heard it a thousand times. You can look and feel great if you lose the extra weight.

For people who have a lot of weight to lose, it can be a long, painful process to reach their ideal body mass index.

What isn’t commonly talked about is the excess skin people retain after they lose weight. Women who have been pregnant often suffer from excess skin. That is because they put on weight and also stretched their skin while they were pregnant.

After losing baby or excess weight, there can be a lot of sagging, wrinkled, puckered skin left on various body parts.

Excess Skin After Weight Loss

There are several factors why we have excess skin after weight loss.

The elasticity of the skin is the main determinant of how much loose skin you will have.

Typically, the younger the skin, the better it can revert to its original shape. Genetics also plays a role in how much elasticity your skin has.

Another factor is how much weight a person lost. The more weight loss, the higher the chance of remaining loose skin.

If you gain and lost the weight quickly (such as often happens during and after pregnancy) the skin may not have enough time to shrink properly.

The final factor is how long you were overweight for. If your skin has been stretched out for years and years, it is less likely that the skin will be able to snap back into its tight shape on its own.

After Weight Loss Surgery

People who lose a lot of weight will tell you, weight loss is not the end of the journey.

While gaining weight typically results in stretch marks, weight loss often leaves varying degrees of extra skin.

When a body gets rid of fat, the body does not necessarily shrink evenly. If a person loses an extensive amount of weight, it is likely that excess skin remains.

After weight loss surgery is a procedure that completes a person’s transformation after losing a lot of weight. It is a follow-up procedure after weight loss of 100 pounds or more.

An individual that loses a lot of weight may feel discouraged by the folds and flaps of excess skin they still have. Diet and exercise can’t shrink loose skin.

Often times, this loose skin prevents a person from seeing the incredible weight-loss transformation he or she has undergone.

After weight loss surgery allows a patient to finally see their new body following weight loss. This surgery allows patients to feel confident and comfortable in their new, toned, shapely body.

Common Body Parts Treated

After weight loss surgery can be used on various body parts that have become deformed.

These include sagging breasts, the flabby skin around the neck, sagging skin around the upper arms or excess wrinkling around the buttock. It is also a surgery that is used for stretched, saggy skin around the abdomen and hips.

This procedure can also correct pockets of stubborn fat around the middle, buttocks or thighs.

Your plastic surgeon might recommend a combination of procedures to target more than one area. This will give you better results that are not limited to one body part.

For example, your surgeon might recommend a lower body lift that targets the buttocks, hips, thighs, and abdomen.

The combinations available depends on your unique needs and body composition. Dr. Sanchez and his team can help you plan a procedure that will help you look young for years to come.

After Weight Loss Surgery Procedure

An after weight loss surgery is a lengthy surgical procedure that could take up to 7 hours to complete depending on the number of areas being worked on.

This surgery is performed under general anesthesia. That means that you will be asleep the whole time.

Usually, you will need to stay in a hospital until the next day to be safe.

Your surgeon will discuss the pre- and post-op procedures with you before you book your procedure.

After Weight Loss Surgery – What to Expect

You can expect a transformation in how you look and feel after weight loss surgery. Many patients describe their procedure as life-changing.

You can expect a smooth, toned looking physique on the area you worked on. You won’t see any wrinkled or saggy skin. It will all be smooth and tight.

Be prepared for some scarring at the surgical site. However, the best plastic surgeons are able to minimize scarring so you can feel good in your skin.

When to Get After Weight Loss Surgery

It’s best to have after weight loss surgery once you have reached your goal weight. Or when you are close to reaching that weight.

However, sometimes excess skin can stand in the way of you reaching your weight loss goal. In those cases, your plastic surgeon may recommend the surgery sooner rather than later.

Sometimes after weight loss surgery acts as a big motivator to help individuals reach their weight loss goals.

Weight Loss Surgery in Baton Rouge

We hope you found this article about weight loss surgery in Baton Rouge instructive.

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact us by phone or email. We’ll be happy to help.