Surgery to remove excess skin

For those members that have lost 100+ did anyone successfully NOT have to have cosmetic surgery to remove the excess skin?  I am so worried that is what I will be required to do.

And , if  you have tips on what you did to firm up your skin, I am all ears.

I would love to hear from someone on this topic too!!.. LOL.. A huge fear of mine...(saggy skin)..  I talked to DRs and Trainers and the only advice I have gotten is too lose the weight slowly and use weights. You have to build up the muscle under the fat for the skin to "cling " to. Thats what I have been told. However, I have never ran into anyone that did lose that much and not take the surgery route.  Let me know if you get an experienced answer..  LOL

I was watching the Tyra Banks show and she had someone who lost a large amount of weight and she looked great.  Maybe you could pull up Tyra Banks site.  I will see what I can find.

There was a 104 pound difference between my highest and lowest adult weights, and I didn't need surgery or even have noticeably saggy skin. However, that loss was in little clusters over six years, and my low weight was extremely unhealthy (too low) so that might make a difference. I'm a little above the midpoint between the two right now and trying for a little below the midpoint.

I've lost 90 lbs...And yes, the skin is noticeable on the front of the thighs, ALOT when I'm lying down or sitting down. I'm 17 though, so all of this "Elastacity for the young age" I hope it's true...

I lost a total of about 90 pounds after the age of 40 and can tell you from experience that skin can be a real issue. 

Personally, my biggest problem areas are my inner thighs from groin to knees and breasts.

I'm probably more critical of myself than others would be but I feel I have "elephant knees", with small folds of skin and deep wrinkles at my knees.  The skin on my inner thighs doesn't have folds but do have ripples and dimples that are not cellulite.

I've never considered myself big breasted.  At 230 I wore a 42D.  At 146 I wore a 36B.  I've never had the small "perky" ones that most women long for.  Mine have always been slightly pendulous.  Well, after losing weight the excess skin has made them look more like flattened cucumbers!  Vanity tempted me many times to have the skin removed but, hey, I'm almost 49 years old - why bother?

Collagen and elastin in older skin decreases considerably after 40 so I really have no hope of tightening it up so I just moisturize like crazy and wear knee length skirts and shorts. 

If you can get over the vanity issue and appreciate the fact that you feel great and look great in clothes it's not all bad!

I lost 117lbs (still workin on it) and I have noticably saggy skin, especially when i lay down on my breasts. Also a bit on my tummy, arms, and thighs. I plan to get this taken care of way down the road after i have children etc. but for now i gotta live with it.

I'm tagging this for further reference!

Well, I am 54 (so much for young skin elasticity!), and have lost 98 pounds over the past 12-1/2 months...so far not much in the way of saggy skin.  there is the under upper arm thing - but that sag has still got lots of fat in it that needs to be lost - inner thigh groin half-way to knee - well that is a little "crepe-y" - but not as bad as it was a couple of months ago.  I have been exercising every night - and added resistance exercises for inner & outer thigh so perhaps that is helping.  Do I have a saggy lower abdomen - perhaps - but again still fat to be lost and muscles to build up.

People are quite surprised I am not saggy.  Perhaps I am lucky, perhaps the approx 2 pounds a week or slightly less is working, or perhaps I will have to revisit this sagyy excess skin concept when I have lost the reamining 62 pounds I have to lose - but so far so good.

Good luck all

I don't see your age 1heaven, but in my opinion, short of a miracle, a 100 pound weight loss will result in excess skin. Yes, it will retract somewhat, but my experience has been that, for instance, if your stomach tends to fold down toward or over your pubic area, the skin will always hang down.  When I was 32, I had a 100 pound weight loss and had the excess skin in my stomach area and my thighs have always been just huge.

After that weight loss I had a consult with a plastic surgeon and he confirmed what I suspected, that no amount of exercise, sit-ups, praying, etc. was going to get rid of that excess stomach skin. I opted for the tummy tuck and loved the result then and almost 17 years later I still love the results, even though I have regained AND  LOST almost 100 pounds two more times! Yes, sad, isn't?

At any rate, I'm 47 and had breast reduction/lift in December of 2006 and had a thigh lift five days ago. There might be one person in a gazillion that the ravages we put our body through due to weight loss/gain will NOT have to have surgery to remove excess skin to have the body we desire . . . otherwise, we have to either have the surgery or learn to love our body just the way it is.

I would encourage ANYONE who has lost the weight and has excess skin to at least consult with a plastic surgeon. It has been the BEST money I have ever spent (for the initial consultation) for some expert information and advice.

Plastic surgery is not for everyone, but even sitting here five days out and wondering "why the heck did I do this?", I know in a month I will LOVE the results!

Best of luck! Hopefully you will be the one in a gazillion!

notgivingup59, thank you for posting!

I am 34 and have about 200 pounds to lose from my starting weight, so I am expecting to have the surgery. Would you mind telling me about what it costs (ballpark) for the tummy tuck & thigh lift?

Thanks,

Denise

I've had a few private messages asking about my procedures and pricing. I don't mind sharing, so I'll do it here publicly, and if I can be of help to anyone, please don't hesitate to ask.

I had a tummy tuck in 1991 and back then, my insurance (BCBS) covered it. However, if I had the same procedure today, ins would not cover it. A good friend just had a tummy tuck with a hysterectomy at the same time and she paid the plastic surgeon $5300.00. I THINK BCBS Ins. covered her three night hospital stay for the hysterectomy, therefore for the TT. I believe she'd have had to pay approximately $1000.00 extra for hospital if having TT alone.

I had a breast reduction/lift and extensive lipothis past December. BCBS covered the reduction and I paid approximately $4000.00 for the lift and lipo.

I had thigh lift on June 12th and paid $5000.00 to my plastic surgeon. Right NOW might not be the BEST time to ask about the thigh lift procedure . . . gimme another week and I'll be it's biggest cheerleader!

I do know that price differs greatly in different parts of the country. I'm in Florida and had the surgery in SE Alabama. According to different plastic surgery discussion boards, the procedures I had would be double to triple what I paid.

I do recommend anyone with body issues at the very LEAST have a consultation with a plastic surgeon. Many people believe it's out of reach price-wise, but where there is sagging skin, there is a way!

If I can answer any questions I'd be happy to help!

I'm 50 yrs. old and started my weight loss program 2 years ago.  I've lost 95 pounds so far (started at 252 lbs.) and haven't had any problems yet with loose skin.  But the secret is to take it off slow.  If you've had that bariatric surgery it may present a problem because most patients lose the weight too fast.

My training regimen is a bit harder than what most people are willing to do.  I train with weights, but not the usual light stuff.  I'm in the gym 5 to 6 days per week and I'm part of a bodybuilding team.  I'm training for a figure and fitness competition, so I hit the weights hard! 

The only real concern I have about lose skin is in my abdominal area.  My trainer says there is a slight possibility of having lose skin but it would be more like wrinkles as opposed to hanging skin.  But he's suggested to just wait and see.  Like I said, the ab area is the only area I'm concerned with, the rest is coming along nicely.  I think the whole lose skin issue is determined more around how fast you lose the weight than genetics.  You've got to give your body a chance to stay caught up with the new weight.  The only problem with that is once a person finally gets in the right mindset to begin a weight loss program, nobody want to drag it out...which I can certainly understand!!

I still have another 25 lbs to lose, so I'll keep you posted.

Hi, I am 45 and have only loss 42 lbs in a year. I am not at all disappointed.  My doctor told me he would be happy if I loss only a lb a month. Yes 1.  He was elated for me when I had my 3 month check up and noted how much I had loss. I asked him about the skin and his words to me were "Lets worry about that after you have loss the weight". Meanwhile just remain active. I am doing my best. I have many medical issues so sometimes that is a great challenge for me.

Insurance will not cover this type of surgery. So I am out of luck.  I look forward to hearing how you are doing. If you want to add me as a Friend, I will add you. We can keep in contact that way if you would like.

Take care and God Bless.

I lost about 30 pounds rather quickly about 10 years ago.  My stomach got saggy and it freaked me out and I quit dieting.  I gained everything I lost and then some after that.  I have been kicking myself ever since.  I looked much better then with my saggy tummy than I do now.

I am 54 and now need to lose a total of 70 pounds.  Lost a bit over 20 so far.  I exercise a lot and am losing slowly, so I am not seeing a lot of sag so far.  At my age, I have to accept that there will be some eventually.  I have decided that after I reach my goal and maintain for a year, I will make a decision about surgery then.  The most important thing for me is health, but if my body starts looking good except for saggy skin, I might do what has to be done to really enjoy it.

Look at it this way.  Fat dosen't look good, so we don't wear shorts, short skirts, bikinis, etc.  If we lose weight and have saggy skin, we still won't be able to wear that stuff.  We are no worse off than we were before, but we will look great in pants and other things, so we are ahead. 

I am starting to notice dimples in my legs and in my stomache.  I am diabetic and thought that was from the injections.  My physician told me that was the skin from my weight loss.  His encouragement was to do some exercise and put on some cream for it.

One of the members, Valsgal told me of a cream, Cetaphil that you can get at the pharmacy.  Most stores have it in their cosmetics department.  It seems to do some justice to what I am experiencing but not all of it will go away. I realize that I most definitely will have to do something about the sagging skin in my abdomen.  There is just no way around it unless it is totally ill-advised because of my severe sleep apena. But who knows that might go away too. We'll see.

Thanks for your comments. Take care all and God bless

That girl that won the biggest loser the last show... lost a lot, lost it fast and doesn't seem to have any baggy skin.   But so far I am looking a little like my Shar Pei.  I always heard that people and their pets start looking a like... I should have chosen a different dog!

On the Biggest Looser those people do 8 hours of hard exercise. Imagine that is why there wasn't a lot.  Wouldn't you think?   And I tend to think I look like my dogs too.  They are Husky Mixes. Hence, my size.

Take care and God Bless.

On the biggest loser they start of with half shirts and no shirts so you can "see the fat" but at the end they do have full shirts for the men and full spandex for the women.  I don't think they are special I think they just hide it well.

You could be onto something Leanne... but the dark hair girl who won was in people twice not too long ago and she arms to die for.  I studied it closely and couldn't even see a hint of fat there.

Hi,

My name is Cheryl and I have lost 300 pounds now and I did have a tummy tuck and do need more surgeries. I do have a lot of sagging skin and it is a little depressing having worked so hard and not knowing if I will ever be able to get the rest of the excess skin removed. But I know I will never go back to being unhealthy again.

26yr old male here. I've gone down from 350 ish to 250ish. I haven't had any skin problems. I lost most of my weight thought weight training. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn just sitting around.  The after burn of a weight workout is 48 hours as opposed to cardio which is about 30min to 1 hour. My Goal weight is 230 as my lean mass is measured at 220. I didn't / don't diet. I think most diets are unhealthy as their soul purpose is to deprive your body of enough nutrition so it has to start using fat. Most people try to diet it off and cardio it off, which actually eats protein, preventing muscle growth. It came off in about a year. I know lots of women are afraid of getting muscular, but lets face it.. once you have reached your goal weight you don't have to maintain your muscle mass and just eat sensibly to maintain your weight