Patients that have undergone bariatric surgery (ie. lap band or gastric bypass) often lose more than 100 pounds during the first year after their weight loss surgery. Unfortunately, patients that have lost that much weight will be troubled by a lot of excess skin. The excess skin will not go away by additional weight loss or exercise.
After massive weight loss, the excess skin around the abdomen also extends to the flanks and back. This is a complex problem that cannot be treated with a simple tummy tuck. The optimal treatment is a circumferential abdominoplasty, or lower body lift. This means the incision will go all the way around the trunk. The lower body lift creates a dramatic improvement in the midsection and also creates a modest thigh lift and buttock lift. This is a big operation, but can be performed as an outpatient, or you can chose to stay in the hospital overnight if you desire. Another option is to break this up into two operations, so you would have an extended abdominoplasty, and then have the posterior body lift done about two or three months later. After surgery, you will have plastic tubes that drain the excess fluid under the skin. You will need to wear a compression garment for upto 6 weeks to reduce the swelling and give you the best ultimate contour.
You may also consider having a breast lift with implants, brachioplasty or upper arm lift, an upper back lift, and a medial thigh lift. These additional procedures can be performed; however they will not be done at the same time as your body lift. This is because having multiple shorter operations is safer than having a single large operation. Our goal is to get beautiful results without compromising your safety.
Dr. Dass has a lot of experience with body contouring after weight loss surgery. Make an appointment today, to see if you are a candidate for a lower body lift in Los Angeles.