Will my Skin Retract After I Recover from my Liposculture?

First of all, I would like to congratulate you on losing 70 pounds at age 19.  You are obviously highly dedicated and motivated.  No one but your personal plastic surgeon (who had the benefit of a physical exam and actually look at and touching your skin) can determine if liposculpture or skin resection or both would be the correct procedure for you.  At 19 and as tall as you are, you should get a reasonable amount of skin retraction.  You didn't mention whether you had been pregnant or not.  If you had been, this would have, of course, decreased the amount of retraction on your abdomen. 

 

I agree with all previous responders that waiting 3 to 6 months will give you the final answer as to the amount of retraction you would receive.  But I would be optimistic if I were you.  Continue to work out since I am sure you did to lose all those pounds.  Wearing a compression garment for 3 months is a bit much.  I think 1 month is more than enough.  The good news is you haven't burnt any bridges.  If there are some areas, your inner thighs, your abdomen, or even your upper arms, that show skin sagging after the 6 months, these will be easily treated with skin resection, and by having done the liposculpture first, less skin will have to be resected.  Don't forget, you didn't get all that loose skin in 19 days, give time, time.  I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised.

hello clawdii19  Excess skin would usually shrink back over the area of the body, liposuction is used to reduce volume not tighten skin.  We now have a number of non surgical devices such as ThermiSmooth radiofrequency and VelaShape3 to help tighten skin after liposuction for patients who will benefit from this additional care. This allows us to provide our patients with the best results possible. #looseskin #retract

Skin resiliency and the presence of stretch marks will determine the extent of skin retraction after liposuction. We recommend laser skin tightening to further tighten and retract skin after liposculpture. Raffy Karamanoukian MD FACSLos Angeles

   With any large amount of weight loss, the skin may indeed be loose.  You should wait for at least 6 months to assess skin quality.  Kenneth Hughes, MD liposculpture Los Angeles, CA

At this stage, you must be patient and allow the healing process to mature.  In approximately 6 months, you will know if your skin will retract as much as you would like.  You have youth on your side.  Young skin is more elastic and even with some stretch marks, can improve in the months to come.  The fact that you lost 70lbs and had some loose skin before the procedure does raise some concerns about the elasticity left in your skin.  Being patient, eating right and having a good exercise regiment is the best option now.

Will my skin shrink after liposculpture?  This depends on:


health of the skin -- presence of stretch marks

was there excess skin present before

 the technique of liposuction


From your description of 70 lb weight loss before liposuction and the presence of stretch marks I am not sure that I would have performed liposuction on you without letting you know that there could be significant loose skin.  Even after 3 months of wearing compression garments you may not be completely satisfied

Some liposuction techniques like SmartLipo can improve the reduction of skin surface area compared to others, but they are still not able to "shrink wrap" your skin.

-- Hello dear, thanks for your question and provided information as well.. This is the surgical procedure that revolutionized cosmetic surgery becoming one of the most performed cosmetic procedures. Subcutaneous tissue or fat is removed in order to contour the body in a way that is harmonious and pleasing to the senses. It can be performed in almost all regions of the body such as the neck, chin, abdomen, back, buttocks, thighs, arms and ankles. Usually done through a small incision in the skin through which a cannula connected to a vacuum is applied, it can be performed alone or in combination with other procedures. After liposuction your body is going to be really swollen for at least 2 to 4 months after your surgery. It is important for you to wear your compression garment for at least 6 months, the first 3 months 24/7 and then the last 3 months at least 12 hours per day for your body get use to not having the faja for so many time. When you remove it, your body can get swollen and also you can have pain. Remember to also compress your body to prevent a seroma which is an accumulation of liquid that has to be drained, it is hard to touch and also really painful. Bruises are completely normal for almost 3 months from surgery, that’s why is better for you to use a bruising cream and apply it all over your body 3 times a day. To prevent bad circulation and swollen legs, use compression socks. Brazilian butt lift can be performed with the same procedure and for a month it will be swollen and it will drop a little bit without losing it’s shape if you use your garment.. If you’re going to perform liposuction on your inner, outer, anterior, lateral, postetior thighs, be careful and consult with your surgeon what’s best for you, sometimes we have more extra skin than fat, that can cause severe sagginess on our legs, which can be only be reversed performing a thigh lift!

Skin is remarkably elastic, much more so than we give it credit for. I suspect that even though you've lost a significant amount of weight, you'll be surprised at how much your skin retracts. However, if you find that even with the compression garment and time it doesn't fully tighten, you could try a procedure like Thermage, which tightens the skin even more. best of luck and congratulations on the new healthy weight! 

Yes, your skin will retract. Because the Vaser liposculpture machine leaves elastic skin tissues intact, the skin retracts like shrink wrap over the top of the new muscle contours. This gives superior definition to the contours the surgeon has just created, for tighter, more attractive results.

Skin is remarkably elastic and will often retract more than we expect after a liposculpting procedure.  The compression garment is helpful in this process, but you do not necessarily need to wear it beyond 3 months.  Your best results will most likely be apparent around 6 months.  Patients who have stretch marks in the treated area and/or have lost a significant amount of weight usually do not have as impressive skin retraction so it may not retract as much as you would like.  You may get some additional benefit from laser treatments or ultrasound therapy, but the tightening can be very subtle.