Massive Weight Loss

WHY MASSIVE WEIGHT LOSS BODY CONTOURING?

Obesity is an epidemic issue. More and more people start to understand the association between obesity and health problems like hypertension and diabetes. Because few people were able to lose the weight through only diet and exercise, massive weight loss procedures are now becoming more acceptable and popular in the obese population. Procedures like gastric banding and gastric bypass result in massive weight loss in a short amount of time.

Massive weight loss is defined as losing more than 100 lb (~45 kg) or more than 100% above individual’s ideal body weight. Due to the rapid weight loss in fat, they end up with a large amount of excess skin. The excess skin hangs over the abdomen, arms, thighs, and in older patients, face. My patients often complain of the annoyance and discomfort of the excess skin when they wear belt and tighter fitting cloth. They also have difficulty finding fitting clothes. In areas or seasons where humidity is high, skin breakdown or rashes develop underneath the excess skin folds. Thus the problems after massive weight loss are both cosmetic and functional.

HOW IS IT DONE?

Massive weight loss procedures are mostly body contouring in nature. The most common areas that need to be addressed are the droopy inner thighs, inner arms, breasts, and excess skin in the lower abdomen. In older patients, facelift and necklift procedures are needed to remove all the excess skin in the face. Breasts are deflated so augmentation with lifting is often required at the same time. The skin quality and nutritional status are usually poor so techniques used have to address the risk of recurrence and incision dehiscence. There exist a special set of procedures, which are variations of the regular plastic surgery principles, to deal with these massive weight loss deformities.