What to Do About Loose Skin After Liposuction?

Question

I had lipo on my stomach a year ago and even though I work out regularly, my stomach now looks kind of blubbery. I have consistently weighed about 120 and am 5'6, and my stomach looked smooth before lipo, so I am thinking it was caused by the lipo, maybe due to poor skin elasticity.

	Could lasers help tighten the skin? should I have smart lipo done on this area to correct the problem?? thanks

Emmanuel Mallol Cotes, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. Based on your photos you will achieve your body goal with a full tummy tuck combined with intense liposuction including abdomen, waist, laterals and upper and lower back to improve your body contour and get better curves, especially in your waist area.
Kind regards,Dr. Emmanuel Mallol Cotes.-

Michael A. Bogdan, MD, MBA, FACS · Answer

Dear EsteeG,
You are correct - your loose skin is due to loss of elasticity.  A limitation of liposuction is that good results are dependent strongly on the elastic quality of the overlying skin.  If you skin does not "snap back" tightly, you may see contour issues after liposuction.  That's the whole reason that these new liposuction technologies are designed - an attempt to additionally tighten the skin.  Although the marketing machines for these companies try to sell you that their device is the "holy grail" in regards to tightening skin, in reality the tightening by ultrasound or laser is only moderate.  With the amount of skin excess you are showing in the picture, you would be disappointed with additional liposuction results (any technique).  A tummy tuck can easily remove all of that excess skin, and will give you a very tight / flat stomach.  Please look at the video on my page for some before and after morphs so you can see what a tummy tuck does.
Best regards,
Dr.B

Daniel Sherick, MD · Answer

You have already answered your own question.  The skin looks this way now because of poor skin elastisity. Treatments to tighten the skin are unlikely to give you the desired look you want, because the photograph demonstrates quite a bite of extra skin. In this case I believe the only way to achieve an improved look would be to have the skin removed. This would require a tummy tuck. The scar could be hidden very low on your abdomen, just above the pubic hairline where it is easy to hide. I think you will be disappointed if you go ahead with any lesser procedures.
Good Luck!

What to Do About Loose Skin After Liposuction?

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What to Do About Loose Skin After Liposuction?

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