Can I Tighten my Loose Abdominal Skin Without Surgery? (photo)

Congratulations on your weight loss.  Losing 75 pounds is a tremendous accomplishment.  Significant weight loss, as you have undergone, often is more than the skin can fully rebound from.  You may see loose skin in your lower abdomen and around your umbilicus, in particular.  If this continues to persist and is bothersome to you, it is likely that a board certified plastic surgeon can help you by tightening your skin and smoothing the contour of your abdomen.  However, because you are young, your skin is likely to have more elasticity and you may continue to see improvement in your skin contour without surgery.  I would continue to give your body time until you feel that your improvement has plateaued.

Hi @IrisNew, Congratulations on your weight loss! Loose skin without Excess Skin can be tightened without surgery, but can be unpredictable. If you have Loose skin and Excess Skin then a true tummy tuck will be the best option. 
After your Tummy Tuck the initial recovery period is pretty smooth. You should be up and walking the evening of surgery. I like to see my patients the day after surgery, if possible. Then, we see you again on day 7 after surgery. At about 10 days until you are up and back to baseline routine activities like driving or sitting at a desk. You can get back to work at about one or two weeks as long as your duties don’t involve heavy lifting (>10 pounds). If you have a physically demanding job, you may need to work on light duty for a month. At 6 weeks after surgery we consider you completely healed and OK to get back to all activity including exercise. 


Dr. Chopra, M.D.

Plastic Surgeon

Johns Hopkins Trained

Face, Body and Breast Expert

Congrats on your weight loss.  Since you're so young, I would bet that your skin will continue to tighten with time and exercise, especially if you don't smoke. So stay healthy and active and give it some more time.  Congrats!