At What Point is It Ok for Me to Get a Body Lift, and Will It Affect my Continuing Weight Loss?

Should I reach my absolute goal weight before considering a body lift?

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8 Doctor Answers | Asked by anon

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Losing weight prior to surgery

The ideal situation is for you to lose all of the weight and be stable in regards to weight prior to surgery - that will give you the best result. If you have the surgery and then lose 20 more pounds, you may need to have another surgery because there may be additional loose skin to be removed. I agree that usually patients who have had massive weight loss require more than 1 surgery so the revision can also be addressed at that time as well. Make sure your surgeon has lots... more

Correct timing of a bodylift.

The standard criteria for being eligible for a body lift are: 1) If you have had gastric bypass surgery, you must be at least 18 months out from that surgery and; 2) You should be stable at your present weight for 6 months. With any body contouring procedure, like a body lift, the surgeons removes all excess tissue to get the best shape possible. As long as you maintain your weight the result will last forever. If your weight is not stable and you have major fluctuations... more

Body Countouring after Weight Loss - correct timing

To answer this question one has to ask : 1) How did you loose you weight? 2) What was your beginning weight and end weight? What is you goal weight? If you had a gastric bypass or band - we usually wait for 18 months or until you have reached your goal weight and have been stable for a few months. If it was through diet and exercise, when you have stopped loosing and are happy with your weight. Your overall health, degree of excess skin and amount of residual... more

How to Time Plastic Surgery After Weight Loss

Removing excess skin after a substantial weight loss often involes more than one surgery to get the most out of the weight loss process. It can be very helpful for a person considering the process to meet with their plastic surgeon to construct the plan that is best suited to their needs. Often people take weight off in a different distributuion then they put it on. For example a patient may become overly thin from the waist up but be unable to make much change in their... more

Weight loss prior to body contouring

I encourage all of my patients to wait until they have achieved a stable weight for a period of three months. Ideal body weight and goal weights are medical markers which are not realistic goals for some people. You do not want to have a body contouring operation and lose another 20 to 30 lbs. Although you will always look better than if you hadn't had the surgery, you will lose some of the cosmetic benefits as the skin does not tighten after that amount of loss. Seek... more

Weight For Body Lift

You did not mention your current weight nor your goal weight, but the closer that you are to your ideal body weight will usually translate into a better result with your body lift. Patients whose BMIs are 25-30 will almost always have a better result than those whose BMIs are 30-35. Having said that, some patients cannot achieve that degree of weight loss and, if your weight has been stable for six months or longer, you might want to proceed with your body lift now. The... more

Achieve desired stable weight prior to body contouring

It is very important to achieve your desired weight prior to having cosmetic surgery. I also feel that 3 months at your stable desired weight is a minimum. You don't want to gain weight after removing tissue only to realize that more tissue needs to be removed.

Jeff Scott, MD

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Everett Plastic Surgeon

Body lift

Idealy you do the body lift after you have lost all the weight you want to loose and you are at your ideal body weight ( or near it) and you are weight stable . Then you are ready for surgery, which depend on how your body looks and what you want to achieve. Liposuction may and frequently done during the body lifts for those resistant areas. In severe skin laxity of different body parts you should divide the surgeries into several sessions. Prioritize your areas of concern, and work with... more