If you’ve lost a major amount of weight, you have my admiration and congratulations! Many men and women struggle with excess weight throughout their entire lives, and when they find a solution—either with weight loss surgery or a combination of diet and exercise—they have every right to celebrate. Unfortunately after the weight is gone, these patients have sagging skin, which takes away some of their joy and personal satisfaction. Are there solutions? Yes! Are they right for you? Maybe. Read on!
Body Contouring Is Part of Weight Loss Success
For NW Indiana men and women with significant weight loss, removal of excess skin is part and parcel of their journey. Without this step, sagging skin can make exercise uncomfortable, and notwithstanding visits to the gym, finding satisfaction in shopping for clothes can be difficult. For this reason, procedures such as a liposuction, breast lift, and tummy tuck procedures are often good choices for my Valparaiso and Schererville post-bariatric patients.
When Is the Right Time for Body Contouring?
There are 3 primary factors I review with my Indiana patients who are considering body contouring procedures:
#1: Is your weight stable?
Whether you’ve lost weight through diet and exercise or bariatric surgery, maintaining that lower weight for a period of at least six months is an important issue. Significant weight fluctuations after your procedure can eliminate the gains of that procedure. Imagine having a tummy tuck and then gaining 30 lbs. You can easily see how that can negatively affect your results. That’s why we encourage our patients to maintain their target weight for at least six months.
#2: Are you in good health?
Many people undergoing bariatric surgery do so primarily because they have suffered the effects of obesity: high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes to name just three. After the weight is gone, most find their health issues are improved, though not all do.
It’s important that you’re as healthy as you can possibly be prior to undergoing anesthesia and surgery. Does that mean I cannot operate on patients with high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes? It depends. If those issues are active in your life, we’d need a thorough screening from your physician to insure that general anesthesia and surgery will not create significant risks for you.
If you suffer from any obesity-related problems, such as those listed above, I promise we’ll review those issues and take the time we need to be sure you’re healthy enough for surgery.
I offer some additional tips for preparing for a tummy tuck surgery in this blog post.
#3: Realistic goals are a must
Most of my NW Indiana patients with significant weight loss have this goal: to eliminate the unsightly and uncomfortable extra skin. They understand that, even with the best results, body contouring has its limits. When we meet for consultation, I promise to be clear with you about how much we can accomplish and how many procedures are required to do so.
You can see the type of results you might expect from a tummy tuck procedure by viewing some of my patients’ before-and-after photos. There, you can also browse through liposuction before-and-after photos.
If you have lost significant weight and want information about body sculpting procedures here in the Schererville, Merrillville, and Valparaiso area, please call my office at (800) 721-3244 or complete this online form.
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