Best Plastic Surgery or Skin Care Treatments for Excess Skin

Excess skin can be a problem for anyone who has lost 50 pounds, those who have had multiple pregnancies, and those who have carried twins, triplets or more. The older we get the less able our skin is to snap back. Mothers who have children in their early twenties suffer less from excess skin than do older mothers. For those who have lost large amounts of weight, the skin is even more likely to sag depending on how long the person was overweight and their age.

Skin care treatments for excess skin are not too effective in that the skin was stretched past the point of recovery. Keeping the skin moisturized and protecting the skin from sun damage reduces the chance of excess or saggy skin, but once the skin is stretched to a point that it cannot recover, like a stretched out rubber band, surgery may be necessary to correct it.

A tummy tuck, thigh lift, or full body lift all work to tighten the area and remove excess skin. An obese person who has lost weight will probably require a full body lift to remove excess skin from most parts of the body including thighs, buttocks, abdomen, breasts, arms, and the neck area. The cosmetic surgery procedures all work relatively the same way in that a large incision is made, the skin flap is lifted, pulled tight, and then excess skin is removed. The skin is then stitched back to the incision point.

The procedure is performed under general anesthesia. A full body lift requires five or more large incisions, one across the abdomen, hip bone to hip bone just above the pelvic bone and one cross the back, hip bone to hip bone. In the front, the skin is pulled down, while in the back the skin is pulled upwards, lifting the buttocks and back of thighs. Two more incisions are made in the groin area at the top of the thighs to pull the skin up on the front of the thighs and that excess skin is removed. The back of the arms are lifted with incisions under the arm. A breast lift may be incorporated as well as neck surgery.

Excess is not just visually unappealing, it can have health consequences. The hanging skin can interfere with hygiene and proper mobility as well as cause bacteria to grow between folds. A person who lost a lot of weight cannot enjoy the benefits of their new body because they are carrying around pounds of excess skin that causes them not to fit into smaller clothing or to ear the clothing that they have longed to wear.