After working hard to lose a significant amount of weight, either through lifestyle changes, weight loss medications, or bariatric surgery, you may be left with a lot of loose skin. This can significantly impact your self-confidence, body image, and how your clothes fit.
Excess skin can also increase your risk of skin breakdown and make personal care more difficult. Explore how a body lift in Clear Lake can help remove these obstacles so you can enjoy your new body and improved health. We encourage you to call board-certified plastic surgeon Dr. Olivier Deigni and schedule your body contouring consultation today.
A body lift is a type of plastic surgery in Clear Lake that improves your new shape, removes excess skin and small fat deposits, and improves skin tone. Significant weight fluctuations, aging, sun damage, and pregnancy can contribute to a loss of skin structure and elasticity. This can result in sagging skin around the abdomen, buttocks, thighs, and bra line.
When you have carried weight for an extended time, collagen and elastin molecules in the skin can become damaged. These are protein molecules that are responsible for structure and elasticity. With age, sun exposure, and environmental damage, your body makes less collagen and elastin, which results in saggy skin.
Depending on your needs, you may consider an upper body lift, lower body lift, or a total body lift.
An upper body lift is also called a bra line lift or back lift. It helps create a smoother contour along the bra line by removing excess skin along the upper back and extending to the sides of the chest.
A lower body lift addresses excess skin in the buttocks, flanks, and thighs as well as the belly area.
A full body lift is a set of procedures that address excess skin from the bra line to the hips, producing dramatic results in the arms, legs, buttocks, stomach, and breasts.
Each of these procedures can be combined with liposuction to remove small areas of fat deposits resistant to diet and exercise. A body lift should only be considered after you have achieved and maintained your goal weight for several months. Any weight fluctuations after surgery can significantly alter the results.
In Clear Lake, body lift procedures are ideal for men and women in good general health without any underlying medical conditions that can increase the risk of complications during or after surgery.
It is important to have realistic expectations of what surgery can accomplish. A body lift procedure is not the solution to an unhealthy lifestyle. You must be committed to eating proper nutrition and exercising regularly to maintain your body weight and health.
Ideal candidates are non-smokers or are willing to eliminate smoking for six weeks before and after surgery. Smoking increases the risk of complications during and after surgery, including slow healing and infection. This includes any smoking products such as vaping, chewing tobacco, smoking, and nicotine patches or gum.
Body lift procedures in Clear Lake are major surgeries and should be considered carefully. Highly trained plastic surgeon Dr. Deigni can develop a customized surgical treatment plan to address your cosmetic concerns. Typically, health insurance policies do not cover cosmetic surgery. However, when your procedure also improves skin health, your health insurance may help cover the cost.
Recovery is usually extensive and requires careful management to ensure optimal results. Most people are able to leave the surgical facility the same day, depending on the extent of the surgery and your underlying health conditions. Some discomfort and pain are common, so you will be prescribed pain medications in the recovery unit and as you go home. Dr. Deigni uses specialized techniques to improve your healing and recovery and does not use drainage tubes.
In the first few weeks, you can expect some swelling and bruising with reduced mobility. You will wear compression garments to help control the swelling and support the treated areas to heal properly. In the coming one to three months, you will be able to quickly resume light activities and non-strenuous work but should continue to avoid heavy lifting and rigorous exercise. The incisions will continue to heal, and over three months, any scarring will start to fade.
You may have areas that feel numb or tight. This is normal and typically improves over time. It can take several months to a year to see the final results as your body adjusts and the swelling completely subsides. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is crucial, including a balanced diet, regular exercise, and eight hours of quality sleep each night. This helps preserve the results of your body lift and improves your overall health.
When excess and sagging skin is left after significant weight loss, we encourage you to call our office at 281-724-3138 and schedule your consultation to discuss a body lift in Clear Lake with our board-certified plastic surgeon, Dr. Olivier Deigni. Learn more about how this procedure can help restore your body and improve your self-confidence today.
